(Bloomberg) -- European stocks closed little changed, posting their best weekly start to a year since 2013, after data signaled a robust U.S. labor market.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell less than 0.1 percent at the close, paring a decline of as much as 0.4 percent. American wages increased the most since 2009, while a 156,000 gain in December followed a November rise that was better than previously forecast.
The European benchmark on Jan. 3 entered a bull market, months after global peers. Despite a 1.1 percent gain this week, its members are trading more cheaply than those on the S&P 500 index, on an estimated earnings basis.
- The U.S. employment data follows minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting that showed officials were more concerned about a stronger currency. The dollar fell against the euro for the previous two days before rebounding on Friday.
- Miners led declines in the Stoxx 600, along with defensive shares including utilities and health-care firms, while banks and real estate firms gained. The moves indicate a break from a trend that has seen a rotation into cyclical shares and out of those deemed more immune to economic growth.
- Sanofi fell 2 percent after Amgen Inc. won a court ruling blocking the French drugmaker and its partner from selling their cholesterol-lowering drug in the U.S.
--With assistance from Elena Popina To contact the reporter on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Todd White
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