European stocks climbed, completing their first weekly rally of 2014, as investors weighed data that showed the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in December while hiring slowed.

Labor Department data showed the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 6.7 percent in December, the lowest since October 2008, as more people left the labor force. The report also showed U.S. employers hired the fewest number of workers since January 2011. The 74,000 gain in payrolls, less than the most pessimistic projection in a Bloomberg survey, followed a revised 241,000 advance the prior month.

The Federal Reserve, which is trimming the pace of its bond purchases this month, may reduce them by $10 billion in each of its next seven meetings and end the program in December 2014, according to the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey last month.

National benchmarks rose in 15 of the 18 western European markets. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 jumped 0.7 percent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 rallied 0.6 percent.

Swatch gained 3.6 percent to 569 Swiss francs. The biggest maker of Swiss watches, which will release 2013 earnings on Feb. 20, said revenue rose 8.3 percent last year.

Metro increased 2.8 percent to 34.95 euros. The retailer’s biggest shareholder, Franz Haniel & Cie., dismissed a report that it may push for its breakup as “outrageous nonsense.” Franz Haniel, which owns a 30 percent stake, may ask Metro to sell its Real, Kaufhof or Media-Saturn units, Platow Brief wrote without citing anyone.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG jumped 8.9 percent to 17.35 euros, its biggest rally since November 2008. Europe’s second-biggest airline said it expects costs per passenger to drop by 2 percent this year. It also forecast fuel expenses of 6.9 billion euros ($9.4 billion), 200 million euros less than the 2013 estimate.

Brenntag AG fell 2.4 percent to 126.70 euros. UBS AG lowered its recommendation on the shares to neutral from buy, saying it sees limited potential for further gains after last year’s rally. The world’s biggest distributor of chemicals soared 36 percent in 2013.

U.S. stock futures rose as data showed payrolls in December increased at the slowest pace since January 2011, easing concern that the Federal Reserve may accelerate the pace of stimulus cuts.

Global markets:

Nikkei 15,912.06 +31.73 +0.20%

Hang Seng 22,846.25 +58.92 +0.26%

Shanghai Composite 2,013.3 -14.32 -0.71%

FTSE 6,752.5 +61.16 +0.91%

CAC 4,254.05 +28.91 +0.68%

DAX 9,490.75 +69.14 +0.73%

Crude oil $92.69 (+1.12%)

Gold $1240.70 (+0.92%).

European stocks rose, heading for their first weekly rally of the year, as investors awaited data that may show American jobs made the biggest annual gain since 2005. U.S. stock futures and Asian shares were little changed.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.5 percent to 329.92 at 8:11 a.m. in London. The benchmark gauge has risen 0.7 percent this week as reports on German unemployment U.S. private jobs beat economists’ projections. It jumped 17 percent in 2013.

“The main event today is the non-farm payrolls report,” Michael Hewson, a market strategist at CMC Markets Plc in London, wrote in a note. “We shouldn’t forget that we could also see significant revisions to the previous two months and they are also quite likely to move the dial.”

A Labor Department report will probably show U.S. employers hired 197,000 workers in December, following the 203,000 people recruited a month earlier, according to economists. The projected gain would bring the increase in 2013 to 2.27 million, the biggest annual gain since 2005. Economists also expect the unemployment rate to have stayed at 7 percent in December.

The ADP Research Institute’s figures on Jan. 8 showed U.S. companies added more workers last month than economists forecast.

Swatch climbed 3.7 percent to 570 Swiss francs. The biggest maker of Swiss watches reported 2013 gross sales of 8.82 billion francs ($9.7 billion), compared with the average analyst estimate of 8.86 billion francs.

Metro increased 3.3 percent to 35.13 euros. Franz Haniel & Cie. which owns 30 percent of the German retailer, may ask Metro to sell its Real, Kaufhof or Media-Saturn units, Platow Brief reported without citing anyone. Metro chief Olaf Koch opposes the move, Platow said. Haniel CEO Stephan Gemkow may not extend Koch’s contract when it comes up for renewal this year, according to the German newsletter.

Norsk Hydro ASA, an Oslo-based supplier of aluminum and its products, declined 0.8 percent to 27.58 kroner. Alcoa Inc. marked the unofficial start of the U.S. earnings-reporting season yesterday as the largest American aluminum maker reported fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates.

FTSE 100 6,750.69 +59.35 +0.89%

CAC 40 4,256.25 +31.11 +0.74%

DAX 9,510.85 +89.24 +0.95%

Asia’s benchmark stock index swung between gains and losses as data showed China’s trade surplus narrowed and investors awaited a report on U.S. payrolls.

Nikkei 225 15,912.06 +31.73 +0.20%

S&P/ASX 200 5,312.38 -12.03 -0.23%

Shanghai Composite 2,014.54 -13.08 -0.65%

Luk Fook Holdings  Ltd., a jewelry retailer, slumped 11 percent in Hong Kong after its rating was cut at Credit Suisse Group AG on slowing sales momentum.

Mitsubishi Materials Corp., which processes metals, dropped 1.6 percent in Tokyo as it plans to halt a plant’s operation after an explosion.

Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., which has the distribution rights in Japan and China for a liver-disease drug developed by Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc., jumped 17 percent after a clinical trial proved successful.

Nikkei 225 15,880.33 -241.12 -1.50%

Hang Seng 22,787.33 -209.26 -0.91%

S&P/ASX 200 5,324.41 +8.36 +0.16%

Shanghai Composite 2,027.62 -16.72 -0.82%

FTSE 100 6,691.34 -30.44 -0.45%

CAC 40 4,225.14 -35.82 -0.84%

DAX 9,421.61 -76.23 -0.80%

Dow 16,445.91 -16.83 -0.10%

Nasdaq 4,156.19 -9.42 -0.23%

S&P 500 1,838.13 +0.64 +0.03%