European stock markets ended mostly unchanged this evening, as worries over a surprise drop in US employment were offset by mounting expectations that the Federal Reserve will take further steps to support US the economy.
In London, the FTSE ended down 0.1% at 5,658, with mining shares rising along with commodity prices, but Barclays losing more than 2% to 297p after a key investor cut his stake in the bank. In Paris, the CAC fell 0.2% to 3,763, while in Frankfurt the DAX edged up 0.3% to 6,292.
In Dublin, the ISEQ closed six points (0.2%) lower at 2,714, with banks falling again. Bank of Ireland dropped 4.3% to 65 cent, while AIB lost another 3% to 40 cent after a downgrade from S&P. Shares in Kenmare plunged 12.7% to 19 cent after operations at its Moma mine were suspended, but Elan gained 2.6% to €4.19.
On Wall Street, markets appeared to focus on the possibility of further Fed interventions to help the US economy. The Dow Jones was 0.5% higher at 10,999 and the Nasdaq was up almost 0.4% at 2,392.
Earlier, Tokyo's Nikkei lost 1% to close at 9,589 following a strong week of gains that came after the Bank of Japan cut interest rates to between zero and 0.1%. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong added 0.3% to end at 22,944.
