Europe stocks end flat as miners offset banks

European stocks ended mostly unchanged on Friday as worries over a surprise drop in U.S. monthly payrolls data were offset by mounting expectations the Federal Reserve will take further steps to support the economy.
Heavyweight miners such as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton rallied along with commodity prices on expectations that the Fed will pump more money into the system.
Banking stocks, however, resumed their four-week pull-back, with Barclays losing 2.3% after a key investor cut his stake in the bank.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed 0.01% higher at 1,070.67 points, gaining 1.2% on the week.
"Over the past few months, stocks have been pretty much ignoring the bleak jobs picture and consumer confidence data, while the quantitative easing has boosted liquidity and sparked a rally in commodities," said Vincent Ganne, technical analyst at IG Markets.
"The quantitative easing has started to drastically change the landscape. It may help on the short term, but on the longer term there is a serious danger of ending up in a Japanese-style scenario."
Data showed on Friday the U.S. economy shed jobs in September for a fourth month in a row as government payrolls dropped and private hiring slowed. Economists had expected overall payrolls would be unchanged.
"With data like this, it will take a substantial pick up in inflation before the November 3 FOMC meeting to prevent an announcement of more quantitative easing," ING economist Rob Carnell wrote in a note.
Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index dipped 0.1%, Germany's DAX index gained 0.3%, and France's CAC 40 shed 0.2%.
The Euro STOXX 50 dipped 0.05% to 2,785.43 points.
The euro zone blue chip index has been stuck between its 200-day moving average at 2,769.03 points, which has served as strong support level over the past three sessions, and 2,805.95 points, which represents the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the index's drop from an April high to a May low, a key resistance level the index has been testing for a month without convincingly breaking it.
TomTom surged 9.8% after the Dutch navigation device maker and owner of digital map maker Tele Atlas said it has set up a joint venture with Nasdaq-listed AutoNavi to deliver maps and traffic services in China.
Danish food ingredients and enzymes maker Danisco tumbled 5.8% after it raised its operating profit margin target by less than expected and said it would take some years to reach the goal.