EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Wobble; German Ifo Data Disappoints

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks swung between small gains and losses Friday after data showed business confidence in Germany fell this month.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index edged up less than 0.1% to 341.16, hovering around that level after the widely watched Ifo Business Climate Index fell to 110.4, missing expectations of a reading of 110.9. The Ifo expectations and current-conditions surveys also fell short of projections.

The euro (EURUSD) bought $1.3632 after the data, declining from $1.3644.

Germany's DAX 30 index was up 0.1% at 9,727.90, little changed after the Ifo report. Earlier, German government figures confirmed growth for Europe's largest economy in the first quarter.

Elsewhere, France's CAC 40 index dropped 0.2% to 4,481.24, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index shed 0.2% to 6,806.34, with shares of Smiths Group PLC giving 1.6% after the security-sensor maker issued a profit warning.

But shares of Barclays PLC (BCS) in London traded up 0.6% after the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority said the bank will be fined more than GBP26 million ($43.9 million) for failings around the London Gold Fix. The bank and an ex-trader, Daniel James Plunkett, avoided higher fines, of GBP136,600 and more than GBP37 million, respectively, by agreeing to settle at an early stage.

In other action, Pandora AS shares fell 3.6% after the jewelry retailer said it was selling 13 million shares to institutional investors. On a more upbeat note, shares of Lanxess AG rose 1.3% after Goldman Sachs lifted the chemicals firm to buy from neutral.

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