(Adds futures prices, company news)
LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - European equities headed for a steady open on Friday after recent sharp gains, with investors seen reluctant to place strong bets before a U.S. jobs report that could provide hints about the timing of a U.S. rate hike.
A Reuters survey of economists forecast a 240,000 increase in non-farm payrolls after a 257,000 gain in January. That would mark the 12th straight month of job increases above 200,000, the longest such run since 1994. ID:nL1N0W42AJ
"If we see a pickup in wage growth as well, the bulls may get nervous that the Fed will start prepping markets for a summer rate hike at the March meeting," Jonathan Sudaria, dealer at London Capital Group, said in a note.
In Europe, German industrial output rose more than expected in January, a further sign that Europe's largest economy had a strong start to 2015. ID:nL5N0W723Q
At 0719 GMT, futures for the Euro STOXX 50 STXEc1 were flat, Germany's DAX futures FDXc1 rose 0.15 percent and France's CAC FCEc1 futures were down 0.07 percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of top European shares ended 0.8 percent higher at 1,569.48 points in the previous session. It headed for a fifth straight week of gains.
COMPANY NEWS
COMMERZBANK CBKG.DE
Commerzbank AG is nearing an agreement to pay U.S. authorities more than $1.4 billion to settle alleged violations of U.S. sanctions and a separate probe that stemmed from transactions linked to an Olympus Corp accounting scandal, according to two people close to the case. ID:nL1N0W726R
AREVA AREVA.PA
Standard & Poor's cut the credit rating of Areva two notches deeper into non-investment grade status after the French nuclear group posted a record loss and warned of deteriorating cash flows. ID:nL5N0W8093
VOLKSWAGEN VOWG_p.DE
The German carmaker will next week announce an investment worth around $1 billion in Mexico to expand its Puebla plant, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. ID:nL1N0W72UD
PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN PEUP.PA , GEMALTO GTO.AS
The French carmaker will return to the CAC-40 index on March 23 as the digital security firm exits, stock market operator Euronext said. ID:nL5N0W75HE
BANCO BPI BBPI.LS , CAIXABANK CABK.MC
The bank's board of directors recommended on Thursday that shareholders reject a takeover bid by Spain's Caixabank, saying an adequate bid price would be 2.26 euros per share, far above the bid price of 1.329 euros. ID:nL5N0W75N8
BHP BILLITON BLT.L
An Australian senator called for an inquiry into suspected foreign bribery at top companies including miner BHP Billiton saying the country needs tighter enforcement against corruption. ID:nL4N0W81JT
VINCI SGEF.PA , EIFFAGE FOUG.PA
French toll road operators expect to end a long-running dispute with the government next week through an emerging compromise deal, a source close to the companies said. ID:nL5N0W75IK
BANKIA BKIA.MC
Spanish lender Bankia is selling a package of loans secured against 49 hotels and hopes to raise 400 million euros with the deal, El Confidencial reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the situation.
DEUTSCHE TELEKOM DTEGn.DE
The telecoms operator said it had appointed new executives at its Telekom Deutschland unit. Michael Hagspuhl is now head of private clients, and Hagen Rickmann as head of business clients.
Separately, Telekom said BlackRock Financial exceeded the 5 percent threshold of voting rights on March 2, and on that day had to 5.06 percent.
THOMAS COOK GROUP TCG.L
Chinese conglomerate Fosun International 0656.HK said it has bought a 5 percent stake in British travel group Thomas Cook (NSE:THOM) Group, deepening its foray into Europe's tourism sector after buying French holiday maker Club Med CMIP.PA last month. ID:nL4N0W81Y5
SCOR SCOR.PA
Japan's Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance has agreed to purchase about 15 percent of the French reinsurer, Nikkei reported. The Paris-based company had no immediate comment. ID:nWNAB067HZ
WENDEL MWDP.PA , BUREAU VERITAS BVI.PA
The French investment group said it had sold 10.9 percent of certification group Bureau Veritas in a placement that raised about 1 billion euros. ID:nL5N0W75G9
E.ON EONGn.DE , MAINOVA MNVG.F
E.ON said on Friday the future of its Irsching gas-fired plant beyond March 2016 was in doubt due to an ongoing crisis in the power sector that has pushed many of the company's plants into loss.
Irsching 4 is fully owned by E.ON while Irsching 5 is also part-owned by local utilities Mainova, N-Ergie and HSE. ID:nL5N0W74M7
DEUTSCHE POST DPWGn.DE
Deutsche Post 's DHL Express unit will invest 85 million euros ($93.68 million) to expand its logistics centre in Singapore. The new logistics centre will be operational in the first quarter of 2016.
SIEMENS SIEGn.DE
German industrial group Siemens (NSE:SIEM) will house its German healthcare operations in a standalone unit in the form of a GmbH legal entity on May 1, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. ID:nL5N0W751C
UBS France bullied a former worker who said she had refused to destroy documents that might have been of interest to tax evasion investigators, a Paris labour tribunal ruled on Thursday. ID:nL5N0W74GE
U.S. COMPANIES REPORTING RESF/US :
Q4 2014 Staples, Inc.
MACROECONOMIC DATA/EVENTS (GMT) ECON :
0745 FR Trade
1000 EZ Revised GDP
1330 US Non-farm payrolls
1330 US International Trade
1530 US ECRI Weekly
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0613 GMT:
LAST PCT CHG
NET CHG
S&P 500
2,101.04
0.12 %
2.51
NIKKEI
18971
1.17 %
219.16
MSCI ASIA EX-JP
485.12
0.34 %
1.66
EUR=
1.1019 -0.08 %
-0.0009
JPY=
120.04 -0.07 %
-0.0900
10-YR US TSY YLD
2.117
--
0.01
10-YR BUND YLD
EU10YT=RR
0.343
--
-0.01
SPOT GOLD
$1,198.74
0.05 %
$0.54
US CRUDE
$50.95
0.37 %
0.19
> DOLLAR REVVED UP FOR JOBS DATA, NIKKEI HITS A HIGH MKTS/GLOB
> WALL ST CLOSES UP SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF JOBS REPORT .N
> NIKKEI HITS FRESH 15-YR HIGH ON ECB; FAMILYMART FALLS ON MERGER TALKS .T
> BOND PRICES MOSTLY FLAT AHEAD OF U.S. JOBS REPORT US/N
> U.S. JOBS DATA NEXT TEST FOR BULLISH DOLLAR, EURO STRUGGLES FRX/
> GOLD HOVERS NEAR $1,200, SET FOR WEEKLY DIP ON ROBUST DOLLAR GOL/
> COPPER EYES SMALL WEEKLY LOSS AS STRONGER DOLLAR DRAGS MET/L
> BRENT CLIMBS ABOVE $61 ON MIDEAST SUPPLY CONCERNS O/R