European stocks mixed on German, British data

A 20 euro and 100 rouble notes are seen in this illustration picture taken in Moscow yesterday. The Russian ruble fell yesterday to a record low against the euro, which rose to 48.80 rubles from the previous record of 48.46 rubles on Friday.

AFP/London

European stocks markets struggled for direction yesterday as investors reacted to regional economic data, including weaker business sentiment in Germany and lower British inflation.

In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 edged up 0.03% to 9,659.78 points, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.10% to 4,330.71 points.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day 0.9% higher at 6,796.43 points.

Milan’s FSTE Mib index rose 0.09% to 20,478.53 points and Madrid’s IBEX 35 shed 0.75% to 10,042.7 points.

The euro rose to $1.3756 from $1.3724 late in New York on Monday.

The European single currency gained to 82.38 British pence from 82 pence.

The pound fell to $1.6697 from $1.6714.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold dropped to $1,320.75 an ounce from $1,327.50 on Friday. In Asian trading earlier it had reached $1,332.45.

The Russian rouble fell to a record low level against the euro which rose to 48.80 roubles from the previous record of 48.46 roubles on Friday.

US stocks kicked off a holiday-shortened week yesterday in mixed fashion as investors weighed Irish drug maker Actavis’s mega deal to acquire Forest Laboratories for $25bn.

Five minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 18.87 points (0.12%) at 16,135.52. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 11.09 (0.26%) to 4,255.12 , while the S&P 500 index, a broad measure of the markets, inched up 1.38 (0.08%) to 1,840.01.

In Paris, shares in engineering group Alstom were showing a fall of 3.77% to €20.18 after the financial newspaper Les Echos had reported that the French state might become a shareholder.

Alstom shares have fallen by about 25% this year.

Investment sentiment in Germany slipped in February as uncertainty about the US and emerging economies came to the fore, but the German recovery remains intact, data showed yesterday.

The widely watched investor confidence index calculated by the ZEW economic institute fell by 6.0 points to 55.7 points in February, ZEW said in a statement.

“The ZEW economic sentiment figures for Germany and the eurozone were not so good, with both falling well below expectations,” said Alpari market analyst Craig Erlam.

“This has weighed on investor sentiment this morning, pushing European indices lower.”

In London, traders reacted to news that Britain’s 12-month inflation slowed to 1.9% in January, the lowest level for more than four years.

“We did see some selling in sterling as falling inflation makes it less likely that the Bank of England will hike interest rates later this year, something that some analysts have been predicting will happen and that had driven the pound higher,” said Erlam.