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European markets showed mixed Friday after sharp falls in Tokyo and an increasing number of bad economic reports and quarterly results from companies such as Sony and Honda, which suffered a drop in profits.

In Europe, banking and mining shares were stronger, but the day was marked by reports of unemployment in the euro area, where the rate increased by 8% during December, and information on the Gross Domestic Product U.S. the fourth quarter of last year, expected during the day and that could bring their worst fall in more than 25 years.


By midday in Europe, the British FTSE 100 index had an increase of 0.21%. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.39% and the French CAC 40 fell 0.31%.

In London, shares of mining giant Rio Tinto climbed 4.3% after it announced an agreement to sell an iron mine in South America and other projects worth its rival, for $ 1,600 million.


Shares of banks Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays rose 7.1%, 6.2% and 5.4%. In Frankfurt, Commerzbank rose 5.8% and 1.4% Deutsche Bank.

The U.S. government reported an economic contraction of 3.8% in the fourth quarter, a decline much faster than the decrease of 0.5% the previous quarter and increased from the low of 6.4% annualized in the first quarter of 1982 when the country was experiencing a severe recession.


Investors also reacted to news from the European Union, about 230,000 people in the euro area have lost their jobs in December, reflecting a deteriorating economic situation in the bloc of 16 countries with a common currency.

Asian stock markets were also mixed on Friday. The main indicator of the Hong Kong stock market rose marginally to speculation of a cut in interest rates in China or other measures of encouragement. European stock exchanges opened up to the future strengthening of shares on Wall Street.


The markets had made some gains at the start of the week, boosted by a positive earnings outlook from British lender Barclays and a package of incentives by 819,000 million dollars which was entering the U.S. Congress, but the confidence Asia spoiled due to bad economic and corporate news, especially in Japan, the largest economy in the region.

"Investors are looking for a magic cure, but it is not. There is a solution by itself can solve all the complex problems facing the world economy," said Arjuna Mahendran, head of investment strategy at HSBC Private Bank Asia in Singapore.


"In a typical short-sighted, the markets are alternating between despair and hope," he said. "The problem is that there is no real clarity on profits and the economic situation, and perhaps did not until the second half of this year or at the very end of the year," he added.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell 257.19 points, or 3.1%, to 7994.05 as investors recovered from an accumulation of bad reports on earnings and the latest economic report, which showed that industrial production plummeted to a record pace, and increased unemployment.


In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index recovered from early losses to close the session with a gain of 0.9%, to 13,278.21 units. Sudcoreano KOSPI index fell 0.4%, while markets in Singapore and the Philippines also lost ground. The main stock market index gained 0.4% in Australia. The markets in China closed all week for the Lunar New Year.