LONDON, Aug 2: European stocks remained mixed on Friday after US employment data did little to either dispel or confirm fears that the world’s biggest economy might be heading back towards recession.

Classic defensive plays like France’s L’Oreal and Anglo-Dutch consumer group Unilever attracted risk averse buyers, as did shares in tobacco companies and heavyweight energy stocks like Britain’s BP.

Technology stocks, media and financials were weaker.

The FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips was up 0.15 per cent and the narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index was 0.30 per cent higher.

Wall Street started slightly lower, denting sentiment.

The US data showed that only 6,000 new jobs were added to non-farm payrolls in the United States in July, far fewer than the 69,000 economists had expected.

European stocks wobbled briefly after the data but soon steadied and then drifted in and out of positive territory.

The London, Paris and Madrid benchmarks were higher while Frankfurt and Milan were in the red.

We’re wary of getting too negative but at the same time, the economic data is clearly not as supportive as it was a couple of months ago, said Stephanie Gerrard, European fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.

The Dow Jones industrial average, the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite fell by between 0.5 and 0.8 per cent.—Reuters