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Euro stocks mixed in edgy trade
LONDON, England -- European shares closed mixed at the end of a cautious day Wednesday as sentiment remained fixed to the headlines from the war in Iraq. Gains in chemical stocks such as Syngenta and utility Suez were offset by weaker insurance shares like Munich Re and drug stocks including Aventis. "There's a lot of uncertainty and it's impossible to say how long this war will last. But the market is saying it will end, and hopefully sooner rather than later," Rene van der Zeeuw, head of European equity investments at Robeco in Rotterdam, told Reuters. London's FTSE 100 closed 0.83 points up at 3,793.10 while the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris closed down 0.29 percent at 2,787.56. The Swiss SMI was down 0.39 percent at 4,247.10. At 1735 GMT Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax was up 0.14 percent at 2,639.89. An hour earlier, with only Frankfurt still trading, the FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips was unchanged at 789.35 points. That left the benchmark almost 17 percent up on the six-year low that it plumbed on March 12, although the rally has run out of steam this week as hopes for a swift end to the war have ebbed in the face of stiff Iraqi resistance to U.S.-led forces. Activity was more subdued than recent days as investors treaded cautiously trying to gauge the progress of the war. Strategists told Reuters said the market was at an impasse, flanked on the one side by nagging concerns over a potentially prolonged war and on the other by complete confidence in the eventual victory of U.S.-led forces. "We could see a few more days like this until the coalition forces make their big push for Baghdad," said Valerie Plagnol, chief strategist at CIC in Paris. Chemical stocks were among the day's main winners, led by Germany's Bayer and Switzerland's Syngenta. Bayer rose 0.7 percent after launching its blood pressure treatment Kinzalmono in Germany. It is expected to begin selling the product in other European countries in the coming weeks. Syngenta jumped 5.4 percent. Traders said there was speculation that a trading buy had been issued on the stock, which appeared undervalued. Elsewhere Suez shares built on Tuesday's 8.3 percent gain with a 5.3 percent rise amid hopes it will soon be able to sell more assets -- including UK unit Northumbrian Water -- to trim its debt. Oil shares drew strength from a fresh rise in crude oil prices, with benchmarks such as BP, Shell and Spain's Repsol all adding more than 1.5 percent. Crude oil prices rose as much as three percent on Wednesday, fired by concerns about a protracted war in Iraq and by week-long production closures in Nigeria. Pharmaceuticals were Europe's worst performing sector on the day, led lower by France's Aventis and Switzerland's Novartis. Autos stocks were towed down by France's Renault which fell 2.9 percent after sources said SG Securities cut its 12-month price target on the stock while retaining its "buy" rating. Among insurers, Germany's Munich Re shed 4.9 percent. Sources told Reuters on Tuesday the firm is seeking to raise some three billion euros in bonds in a bid to calm concerns about the health of its finances.
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