European markets end mixed
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PARIS, France (Reuters) -- European shares ended mixed on Tuesday as stellar results from Swiss bank UBS offset oil major BP's disappointing numbers, but investors sat on the sidelines ahead of a key speech from Alan Greenspan.
Activity stayed thin as investors waited to hear the Federal Reserve chairman's semi-annual testimony before Congress on monetary policy and the economy, looking for clues on the strength of the recovery in the world's biggest economy and likely timing for an interest rate hike.
Danish drug maker H. Lundbeck was one of the standout movers, shooting 8.4 percent higher after U.S. industry giant Merck agreed to license its sleep disorder treatment.
Meanwhile, HVB Group slipped four percent as a financial source said the German bank was mulling raising funds through a capital increase to cover a possible writedown of its stakes in insurers Allianz and Munich Re.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips ended flat at 994.9 points while the narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index added 0.4 percent to 2,880.9 points.
In New York, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average was 0.1 percent higher at 10,588 points, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.4 percent to 2,068 points.
Desperate for direction
With no major economic data due out and the latest wave of earnings reports now past, strategists said markets were desperate for a fresh spur to take indices above recent 17-month highs.
But the export-hurting strength of the euro remained a constant source of worry for investors this side of the Atlantic, as the dollar on Tuesday slipped to a one-month low against the single currency.
"The dollar has started to slide again and we doubt there will be much to stop a quick move to $1.30 against the euro,'' said Bear Stearns currency strategist Steve Barrow. "The euro should eventually break through and the only question is what is the ECB (European Central Bank) going to do about it.''
Around Europe, benchmark indices in Frankfurt, Paris and Zurich ended between 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent higher, but London bucked the trend, as losses in stock heavyweight BP dragged the FTSE 100 0.7 percent lower.
UBS cheers, BP disappoints
Investors gave a thumbs down to the British oil giant after it fell short of market forecasts with flat fourth-quarter profits, shrugging off news BP had resumed share buybacks to support its stock. BP shares fell 2.5 percent
Things looked rosier for UBS, whose results beat even the most optimistic forecasts. Its shares rose 2.4 percent as the banking giant also proposed a record dividend and said it would spend up to $4.9 billion buying back shares.
Dutch consumer electronics firm Philips also beat expectations with a fourth-quarter operating profit of 608 million euros, and expressed cautious optimism for 2004. Its shares rose 2.5 percent.
"It's been a very robust and encouraging earnings season. You've seen it from companies at the defensive end of the market like Pernod, you see it up at the investment banking end like UBS, you see it in telecoms equipment,'' said Michael MacPhee, a fund manager at Baillie Gifford in Edinburgh.
There was more positive earnings news from French car maker Renault, which posted a forecast-beating rise in 2003 profits and predicted more growth ahead. Shares added 1.8 percent.
But rival Volkswagen was off 1.6 percent on continued worries that its new Golf model was not selling as well as hoped.
Other climbers included Air France and KLM, up seven percent amidst further media reports that their planned merger is expected to be approved by the European Commission on Wednesday.
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