EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Seesaw After Weaker-than-forecast Jobs Data

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

DAX on track for a 22.8% gain for the quarter

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets were sent on a roller-coaster ride Tuesday morning after eurozone jobs data showed unemployment this year is higher than previously expected.

The main benchmarks, however, stayed on track to log their best quarterly gains in years, with Germany's DAX 30 index eyeing its best quarter since 2003.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.2% at 400.44, just a few points shy of its all-time closing high of 405.50, hit in March 2000. The index traded as high as 401.75 earlier in the day, but started to pare its gain after the arrival of a mixed bag of eurozone data.

The eurozone inflation rate improved in March to negative 0.1% from negative 0.3% the previous month, easing fears of deflation (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eurozone-deflation-fears-ease-as-price-fall-slows-2015-03-31) in the currency union. But the eurozone unemployment rate for February came in at 11.3%, higher than the forecast of 11.2%.

The joblessness rate for January was also revised up to 11.4%, from 11.2% reported previously.

For the quarter, the pan-European benchmark was on track for a 16.8% jump, which would mark its best quarterly gain since the 17.8% rally logged in the third quarter of 2009.

Other markets: Germany's DAX 30 index fell 0.4% to 12,041.66, shaking off an earlier boost it got from German labor data. That report showed unemployment dropped to a record low of 6.4% in March, down from 6.5% in February.

For the quarter, the benchmark was heading for a 22.8% rise, which would mark the strongest three-month gain since the second quarter of 2003.

France's CAC 40 index erased 0.2% to 5,078.04, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index slipped 0.6% to 6,848.92.

Data: France reported that consumer spending for February rose 0.1% on the month (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/french-consumer-spending-rises-in-february-2015-03-31-34855936) and 3% on the year, bang in line with forecasts by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

The U.K. economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in 2014, confirming that the country was the top growth performer in the Western world (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-top-performing-in-west-as-2014-gdp-revised-up-2015-03-31) last year. Gross domestic product for the full year was revised up to 2.8%, from 2.6% reported previously.

Greece reform impasse: The anti-austerity government in Athens and Greece's international lenders were still struggling to reach a reform agreement, which is needed to unlock the next tranche of bailout funds for the struggling country.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Greece's parliament late Monday they would not give in unconditionally to the economic overhauls demanded by its creditors. Greece is at risk of running out of cash in April unless it receives fresh funding.

Movers: Shares of Kingfisher PLC jumped 4.2% after the do-it-yourself retailer said it will close about 60 stores in its U.K. chain B&Q (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kingfisher-net-profit-falls-will-close-stores-2015-03-31)and its "few loss-making stores" in Europe.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG climbed 4.7% after J.P. Morgan Cazenove lifted the Austrian lender to overweight from neutral.

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