European stock markets close lower except for UK

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - European stock markets closed lower Friday, except for the UK exchange as eurozone inflation hit the highest ever on record and the US jobs report was weaker than expected.

Annual euro area inflation is expected to come in at 5% in December, above market forecasts of 4.7%, according to a flash estimate of preliminary data from Eurostat on Friday.

US economy added 199,000 jobs in December, coming lower than the market estimate of 400,000, the US Department of Labor announced on Friday.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, decreased 1.91 points, or 0.39%, to close at 486.25.

London's FTSE 100 was the sole index in positive territory, going up by 34.9 points, or 0.47%, to end at 7,485.

Germany's DAX 30 was the worst performer of the day, falling 104.3 points, or 0.65%, to close at 15,947.

France's CAC 40 dropped 30.2 points, or 0.42%, to 7,219, while Italy's FTSE MIB went down by 37.2 points, or 0.13%, to close at 27,618.

Spain's IBEX 35 lost 38.1 points, or 0.43%, to finish at 8,751.