Europe stocks mixed as EU leaders meet

Visitors pass a London Stock Exchange sign inside the main atrium of the exchange group’s headquarters. In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 0.26% at 7,031.72 points, boosted by gains to share prices of heavyweight miners that rallied on Chinese stimulus hopes.

AFP/LondonEurope’s main stock markets closed mixed yesterday as investors’ attention focused to a EU summit on relations with the ex-Soviet states and the Greek crisis as well as US inflation data. In the euro area, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 lost 0.42% to 11,815.01 points and the CAC 40 in Paris dipped 0.07% to end the day at 5,142.89 points compared with Thursday’s close. But in London the benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 0.26% at 7,031.72 points, boosted by gains to share prices of heavyweight miners that rallied on Chinese stimulus hopes. The euro dropped to $1.1029 from $1.1112 late in New York on Thursday. Also the dollar edged higher as US core inflation came in higher than expected and thus raised chances of an interest rate rise. The US Labour Department reported that consumer prices edged 0.1% higher in April as energy prices tumbled and food prices were flat, but excluding those elements core inflation came in at a higher than expected 0.3%. While the US Federal Reserve is no longer seen as likely to raise its key interest rates in June, markets have been left uncertain over the exact timing of a hike. In midday trading in New York, US stocks were lower as traders awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on the US economic outlook. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.29% to 18,232.42 points. The broad-based S&P 500 retreated from yesterday’s record, falling 0.18% to 2,126.94, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.09% at 5,086.40. While the EU summit in Riga was focused on developing the European Union’s relationship with the former Soviet states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, the Greece crisis nevertheless remained in the spotlight. German Chancellor Angela Merkel dampened hopes for an end to the marathon talks with Greece on a new loan deal, saying more work was needed as cash-strapped Athens said an agreement was possible by the end of the month. And Prime Minister David Cameron used the summit to launch his bid to recast Britain’s relationship with the EU, warning of “ups and downs” before a straight in-or-out referendum on EU membership by the end of 2017. The German economy, Europe’s biggest, meanwhile appears to have reached cruising altitude as business confidence maintained its current high level in May, the Ifo economic institute said Friday. Ifo’s closely watched business climate index eased slightly to 108.5 points this month from 108.6 points in April, the think tank said in a statement. It was the first time since September that the index has fallen, but analysts had been expecting a slightly bigger drop.