Europe midday: Stocks flip into the red ahead of US non-farm payrolls

Stocks across the Continent have flipped back into the red ahead of the release of the all-important monthly US non-farm payrolls report.

"Despite questions over the correlation between the ADP and headline NFP figures, the fact that we have now seen two disappointing ADP figures does point towards potential disappointment today," said IG senior market analysts Josh Mahony.

To take note of, overnight at least two top US central bank officials balked at providing more guidance on interest rates, with one of them, Chicago Fed boss, Charles Evans, saying that more clarity was needed on the US economy's path into spring 2021.

Echoing his words, the Monetary Policy Committee's Michael Saunders, said that more stimulus would likely be needed in the UK.

As of 1255 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 0.29% lower to 365.04, alongside a 0.03% advance for the FTSE Mibtel to 19,556.1, while Germany's Dax was down 0.61% to 12,980.32.

One source of strength in markets at the end of the week was among lenders, with the Stoxx 600 sector gauge 2.02% higher after news that Spain's CaixaBank and Bankia were mulling a possible merger.

The latest economic data out of Europe meanwhile was on the soft side.

Factory orders in Germany increased at a month-on-month clip of 2.8% (consensus: 5%) for July, solely thanks to a jump in export orders, which offset a plunge in domestic orders.