While lower, European indices at least finished off of lows with volume up 6% on the session. For the week the German Dax closed down 1.16% with the FTSE 100 up .09%.  Chinese growth concerns and weak job (even shutdown, weather, etc-skewed) growth in the US weighed.

The Telco sector ended with a small gains with the balance of sectors lower.  Travel and Basic Resources was off nearly 2% with Energy not far behind.

Weighing on the energy sector Norway’s $1T sovereign wealth fund said they will offload exploration firms from the portfolio to reduce vulnerability if oil price declines continue permanently.  Diversified names were spared but 134 companies labeled as either exploration and production are targeted.

Autos fell on a Der Spiegel story noting the EU could soon weigh heavy fines against BMW -1.3%, VW -1.9%, and Daimler -.7% in relation to a cartel probe concerning emissions. Up to €1B could be levied against each manufacturer with antitrust authorities alleging collusion into reducing the effectiveness of vehicle exhaust systems.

GVC Holding fell 14% with both their Chairman and CEO offloading nearly 3M shares.   An analyst at Goodbody noted the large sells were alarming to shareholders.

From earlier: Essilor -6.3%, Bodycote +6.7%, Deutsche Bank -1% / Commerzbank -1.8%.

Inflation readings are due tonight in China.  At the open Monday German Industrial Production and trade data is due.