Europe close: Stocks end mostly lower ahead of second round of French elections

(Sharecast News) - European shares were mostly lower with the UK Labour Party's landslide election victory well-received. But investor sentiment was tempered by wait ahead of the second round of French voting over the coming weekend.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index drifted lower by 0.18% to 516.6. Britain's FTSE 100 index slipped 0.45% despite the Conservative Party - led by Rishi Sunak - being booted from office, as Sterling gained.

Germany's Dax outperformed, adding 0.14% to 18,475.45, as did London's second-tier index which ended the day higher by 0.86% at 20,786.65.

French 10-year government bond prices, the euro, gold and Brent were all higher too.

A mixed reading on the US jobs market in June also weighed on sentiment initially after being released, although the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite would go on to hit fresh highs.

America's Department of Labor, said that non-farm payrolls grew by 206,000 last month, but revised its tally for the previous two months down by a combined 111,000.

Industrial production in Germany declined unexpectedly in May, registering its worst contraction in two and a half years.

Total output fell 2.5% month-on-month, following a revised 0.1% increase in April, originally estimated at -0.1%, Destatis reported.

Retail sales in the eurozone rebounded in May by 0.1% month-on-month after a drop in April, according to data also out on Friday from Eurostat, but rose less than expected.

In equity news, shares in Aixtron surged 18% after a strong second-quarter order intake at the German chip systems manufacturer eased worries about weak demand from the electric vehicles end-market, even as sales forecast were cut for the year.

Shares in Varta jumped 19% after the German battery maker said it's in talks with luxury car-maker Porsche over a potential investment in its large-format lithium-ion battery business.

UK housebuilders gained on the election result. The Labour Party has pledged a large home building programme and changes to planning laws. Barratt, Persimmon, Bellway and Vistry were all up.