By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets erased earlier
gains in the afternoon on Friday and closed mostly lower after
euro-zone consumer confidence unexpectedly weakened in June. U.K.'s
FTSE 100 advanced as Shire shares rallied after a takeover
rebuff.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed marginally lower at 348.09 and
ended the week up 0.3%.
Lending support to the benchmark, shares of Shire PLC rallied
17% after the U.K. drug maker rebuffed a 27.2-billion-pound ($46.35
billion) takeover bid from U.S. rival AbbVie Inc. (ABBV), citing
undervaluation of the company. AbbVie said discussions were no
longer ongoing and that there could be no certainty that any firm
offer would be made.
Alstom SA picked up 1.1% after Siemens AG (SIEGY) and Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries Ltd. sweetened their offer for Alstom's energy
business. General Electric Co. (GE) on Thursday improved its bid
for the Alstom unit, offering new assurances of French control.
The broader sentiment in Europe soured in the afternoon when the
European Commissions "flash" consumer-confidence index unexpectedly
fell back in June. The gauge slipped to -7.4 after rising to a
more-than six-year high of -7.1 in May, missing forecasts of a -6.9
reading.
Howard Archer, chief U.K. and European economist at IHS Global
Insight said in a note that the dip in June partly was due to
several countries' relatively disappointing economic growth news
for the first quarter.
"While any dip in confidence is unwelcome, June's still
relatively elevated level maintains hopes that euro-zone consumer
spending will firm over the coming months and help the recovery to
gradually gain traction," he said.
Germany's DAX 30 index ended 0.2% lower at 9,987.24, trimming
its weekly gain to 0.8%. France's CAC 40 index dropped 0.5% to
4,541.34, sending it slightly lower for the week.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index , however, gained 0.3% to 6,825.20,
partly lifted by the rally in Shire shares. The benchmark ended the
week 0.7% higher.
Outside the main index in London, shares of TSB Banking Group
PLC soared 12% on its debut trading day. The IPO was priced at
GBP2.60 a share, but the strong demand sent the company closing at
GBP2.90.
The move took Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG) one step closer to
selling off the whole TSB unit as part of a condition of its
government bailout. The lender must divest its remaining shares in
TSB by the end of next year.
Lloyds listed 175 million shares in TSB, or 35% of the business,
raising GBP455 million and selling a bigger stake than initially
planned. Lloyds shares dropped 0.9%.
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