Most European stocks slip despite positive economic data

Most European stocks slipped as investors weighed the remark by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen that benchmark interest rates could rise about six months after the central bank ends bond purchases.

Declines for BP and GlaxoSmithKline weighed on the FTSE in London, although markets in Frankfurt and Paris fared better.

Some positive indicators for the US economy also emerged, with jobless claims climbing by less than expected and the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing gauge painting a healthier picture of activity in March than anticipated.

DUBLIN
The Iseq index slipped 0.3 per cent on a flat day for many stocks, although sentiment improved in the afternoon. Cement-maker CRH , the largest constituent of the Dublin market, finished the session up 0.3 per cent at €19.78.

There was little change in the price of Ryanair , which closed at €7.22 on a day when it announced a number of new routes and flights, while paper and packaging group Smurfit Kappa also finished flat at €18.58.

Fruit distributor Fyffes fell 2.1 per cent to €1.20, while food group Glanbia also declined by more than the market average, ending the day at €10.90, down 1.4 per cent. Elsewhere, there were modest gains for insulation-maker Kingspan and I ndependent News & Media , whil e Bank of Ireland closed down 1 per cent, at 30 cents.

LONDON
The FTSE 100 fell 0.5 per cent, with a 1.8 per cent decline for energy giant BP acting as the biggest drag on the blue-chip index. It closed at 468.3 pence, its lowest in three months. BP has bid for its first new US offshore leases in two years, but they are not expected to add any barrels of production until the middle of the next decade.

GlaxoSmithKline dropped 1.6 per cent to 1,629 pence after the pharmaceutical group said its experimental lung cancer treatment failed to meet its objectives in a clinical trial. Ladbrokes lost 4.5 per cent to 134.1 pence, its lowest price since January 2012. It had plunged 12 per cent on Tuesday after chancellor George Osborne raised the duty on instore gaming machines. William Hill retreated 1.4 per cent to 346.6 pence.

Intu Properties fell 4.6 per cent to 308.3 pence after Britain's largest shopping-mall owner agreed to buy three retail centres from Westfield Group for £867.8 million.

EUROPE
National benchmark indexes dropped in 11 of the 18 markets in western Europe.

Rheinmetall slid 4.1 per cent to €51.31 after reports that Germany's economy and energy minister Sigmar Gabriel has stopped it from building a military training centre in Russia's Volga region because of the Ukraine crisis.

Meyer Burger Technology plummeted 15 per cent to 14.45 Swiss francs, its biggest drop in more than five years. The supplier of machinery to solar-panel makers sold 4.8 million shares at 16.20 francs each.

Munich Re gained 1.4 per cent to €152.34 after saying it will buy back €1 billion in shares before its 2015 shareholder meeting. The world's biggest reinsurer also projected a 9.1 per cent drop in 2014 profit.

US
Stocks in New York rose for the third time this week as better- than-forecast data on leading indicators and regional manufacturing sparked optimism in the economy, overshadowing concern about interest rates.

Microsoft gained 3.2 per cent to $40.54, its highest price since July 2000, after analysts at Morgan Stanley said the company's anticipated Office software for Apple's iPad could deliver $1.2 billion a year in billings. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella is expected to debut a version of Office for the iPad at an event next week.

Clothing-maker Guess fell 3.1 per cent to $27.86 after forecasting earnings for fiscal year 2015 of $1.40-$1.60 a share, missing the average analyst estimate of $2.03 a share. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg )