EUROPE MARKETS: Anglo American, Lufthansa Cap Gain For Europe Stocks

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch)--European stocks ended little changed Thursday, with losses for miner Anglo American PLC among those that kept a lid on a stronger gain for the region's benchmark.

The Stoxx Europe 600 finished up less than 1 point at 347.83, backing away from an earlier rise of as much as 0.3%.

Deutsche Lufthansa was among the session's losers, down 1.4% after the air carrier's rating was cut to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse in the wake of the company's operating profit warning. The shares tumbled 14% on Wednesday.

Anglo American PLC was also downgraded, with its rating at Morgan Stanley cut to underweight rating from equal weight. Morgan Stanley also cut its price target on Anglo American, as well as on Rio Tinto PLC and BHP Billiton PLC, as it reduced its price assumptions for iron ore for 2014 through 2019, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Anglo shares dropped 3.2%, Rio Tinto lost 3.1% and BHP (BHP) gave up 1.3%

In a generally rough day for the mining sector, Lonmin PLC shares stood out, shooting up 8.8% after the platinum miner said an informal agreement with union members on a labor contract has been reached. Lonmin, along with Anglo American Platinum Ltd. and Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., has grappled with labor strikes across South Africa since January.

Stocks earlier in the day held to minor gains after the release of European Union data that industrial production in the euro zone rose in April, indicating an acceleration in economic growth at the start of the second quarter.

The European Central Bank last week enacted fresh measures aimed at reinvigorating economic activity and bolstering inflation. French statistics released Thursday showed consumer prices were unchanged in May, remaining sluggish from April and missing expectations for a slight increase of 0.1% in a Wall Street Journal poll of economists.

Meanwhile, shares of France's Alstom edged up 0.2%on news German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG is expected to decide by Monday whether to bid for the French company's energy assets. Siemens said it would work with Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to consider a potential pitch for the Alstom unit. Also, an executive with Japan's Hitachi Ltd. said Thursday that it will work its partner Mitsubishi Heavy on a potential bid, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Alstom shares had been up by more than 1% during the session.

The French government is discussing with General Electric Co. (GE) about the U.S. company improving its offer for the Alstom business, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index closed up 0.1% at 6,843.11. From the U.K. economic front, U.K. prices for housing rose in May, but demand shows signs of slowing, according to figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Germany's DAX 30 slipped 0.1% to 9,938.70, and France's CAC 40 shed less than 1 point to 4,554.40.

The opening of trade in Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon and Paris was delayed by 30 minutes as exchange operator Euronext said it was dealing with a technical glitch.

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