Europe shares fall ahead of US jobs data European indices remained in negative territory on Friday morning ahead of key employment data out of the US. Banking and automobile stocks were among the worst performers across the FTSE Eurofirst 300, which slid 0.2 per cent to 1,042.09 in morning trading. BBVA fell 4.2 per cent to €5.23 after HSBC downgraded its shares to "neutral" from "overweight." In a note to clients HSBC ranked the Spanish lender at the top of its "least liked" list of European banks. "We believe the stock is discounting a gloomy macroeconomic scenario," analysts wrote. Banco Santander, HSBC's third-least liked bank, lost 1.8 per cent to €5.00, while shares in Banco Popular slid 2.5 per cent to €1.65 after HSBC cut its rating to "underweight" from "neutral." Elsewhere, traders sold out of automobile stocks. Shares in BMW slid 3.2 per cent to €57.25. Fiat suffered losses, as shares fell 3 per cent to €4.14, while traders sent Porsche's preferred shares falling 1.8 per cent to €40.71. Shares in Peugeot fell 5.4 per cent to €7.25 after the French carmaker said first half unit sales fell by 13 per cent compared with the same period in 2011. Moves by central banks in the UK, EU and China to stem slowing growth failed to boost market sentiment, sending European indices sliding. Traders are now waiting for US non-farm payrolls report, which will be released at 13.30 BST, in hope that the figures could provide the impetus for the US Federal Reserve to pump money into the system. "Today's US non-farm payrolls report will be the next meaningful test for the global risk rally that started in early June," analysts at Barclays said in a morning note to clients. Ireland's Kerry Group was one of the best performing stocks across the FTSE Eurofirst 300. Shares rallied 2.6 per cent to €35.47. In Frankfurt and Paris the benchmark indices were both down 0.4 per cent, to 6,508.14 and 3,216.36, respectively. In Madrid, the Ibex 35 fell 1.4 per cent to 6,860, while in Milan the FTSE MIB index fell 0.6 per cent to 14,006.88.