European markets open to close: FTSE, DAX, US jobs

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk briefly overtook luxury behemoth LVMH as Europe’s most valuable company on Friday.

The company’s value has recently climbed on the back of the success of its weight-loss drugs, including Wegovy and Ozempic. It hit $421 billion in morning trading, according to Reuters data — inching past LVMH, which had a market cap of $420.97 billion at the time.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

U.K. house prices fell 5.3% year-on-year in August, marking the weakest annual rate since July 2009, according to a new survey from lender Nationwide.

Prices fell by 0.8% on the previous month.

“The softening is not surprising, given the extent of the rise in borrowing costs in recent months, which has resulted in activity in the housing market running well below pre-pandemic levels,” said Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide.

Mortgage approvals have been 20% below pre-pandemic 2019 levels in recent months, Gardner said.

“Nevertheless, a relatively soft landing is still achievable, providing broader economic conditions evolve in line with our (and most other forecasters’) expectations,” he added.

— Jenni Reid

“The debt is very high, but the problem is not the debt, it’s the growth,” Valerio De Molli, CEO of the European House – Ambrosetti, tells CNBC.

“The reality is that if the yields go up then you will suffer more than other countries. So we may have a couple of difficult years more than other nations. But if we successfully keep our growth pattern very active, then we can manage all of that.

“And let’s not forget the fact that families and corporates are much [less] indebted than the German and the French. So if you look at the entire picture, not only at the public sector, then you have a much more manageable situation.”

European stock markets are on course for a cautious open on Friday, according to IG data.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 is seen opening 4.5 points higher at 7,451, with Germany’s DAX up by 4 points to 15,976 and Italy’s MIB up 17.5 points to 28,909. However, France’s CAC is seen slipping by 3.5 points to 7,329.

— Jenni Reid

August has been a choppy month. September, a historically stormy month, may not be any better.

The pros weigh in on how investors can trade in the month ahead and share stocks to buy.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

The People’s Bank of China announced Friday that starting from Sept. 15, it would reduce the foreign exchange reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions to 4%, from 6%.

The cut follows a number of reductions to various interest rates in the last several weeks in an effort to shore up the economy.

The PBOC on Friday set the midpoint of the yuan against the U.S. dollar at 7.1788, a touch stronger than the 7.1811 on Thursday, according to Wind Information.

The offshore-traded yuan weakened past 7.24 yuan versus the greenback, according to Wind.

— Evelyn Cheng

Dividend stocks aren’t evergreen, but investing in them over several years can pay off, according to one portfolio manager.

Their underperformance this year presents an opportunity, said Ben Kirby, who is also co-head of investments at Thornburg Investment Management.

He names five stocks to buy.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

August marked a difficult time for technology stocks, with the Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq-100 notching their worst months since December 2022.

For the month, the Nasdaq Composite slumped about 2.2%, while the Nasdaq-100 finished 1.6% lower.

The biggest laggards included software stocks Fortinet and Datadog, down 22.5% and 17.3% on the month, respectively. JD.com shares lost 19.6%, while Lucid Group and PayPal shaved off more than 17% each.

— Samantha Subin