Gamers play video games at Ubisoft’s booth during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Stocks in French software company jumped 7.21% yesterday after it announced a successful launch for its latest video game ‘Watch Dogs’.


AFP/London


Europe’s main stock markets picked up slightly in late trading after an unsteady start, on a quiet day because of the Ascension Day holiday, and they brushed off poor US data as did Wall Street, traders said.
Wall Street opened on a positive note despite a downward revision for US growth in the first quarter.
But the US figures undermined the dollar, and the euro rose to $1.3610, having fallen early in the day to the lowest value since mid-February of $1.3586 from $1.3590 late on Wednesday.
Traders expect the European Central Bank to ease its monetary policy next week to ward off  deflation, and encourage lending in the sluggish eurozone economy.
London’s FTSE 100 index of top shares rose 0.29% from the closing level on Wednesday to 6,871.29 points, and not far from 6,900 points traders noted.
In Paris, the CAC 40 index rallied slightly but ended with a net loss of 1.12 points or 0.02% at 4,530.51 points.
In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 also recovered some lost ground to close flat at 9,938.90 points.
Madrid’s IBEX 35 shed 0.21% to 10,734.8 points as official data confirmed the Spanish economy grew 0.4% in the first quarter.
But Milan’s FTSE Mib index was down 0.35% to 21,511 points despite a successful sovereign bond issue.
On Wall Street, sentiment was firm in early trading, shrugging off official data showing that the US economy shrank by 1% in the first quarter, a setback which surprised the market.
The SandP 500 index was showing a gain of 1.73 points or 0.09% to 1,911.51 points, although the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 16,633.66 points. The Nasdaq index largely of technology stocks rose 0.18% to 4,232.75.
“Despite this revision of US gross domestic product, the market does not seem at all concerned,” said trader Yves Marcais at Global Equities in Paris.
Shares in British medical equipment maker Smith & Nephew, jumped 3.56% to 1,028.98 pence on hopes of a takeover bid.
Mining shares were firm on more optimistic sentiment towards prospects for the Australian economy.
On the downside, Kingfisher’s share price slid 4.86% to 397.04 pence in London, as investors took profits following upbeat quarterly earnings from the firm, Europe’s biggest home-improvements retailer.
In Paris, shares in cable and telecom operator Numericable surged by 5.3% to 42.65 euros on a recommendation from Citigroup in view of upheaval in the French telecoms market where Numericable is expanding rapidly.
Stock in French software company Ubisoft jumped 7.21% on the secondary SBF market after it announced a successful launch for its latest video game “Watch Dogs”.
The European single currency firmed to 81.44 British pence from 81.31 pence.
Sterling ended at $1.6717 having fallen to $1.6693 earlier, the lowest level for six weeks. It had closed at $1.6710 on Wednesday.
The dollar continued to fall against the yen, to 101.55 from 101.84.
The Swiss franc was almost steady at 1.2208 Swiss francs for a euro, and edged up to 0.8969 francs the dollar.