European stocks steady awaiting key data

LONDON, Mar 28 (AFP): European stock markets steadied Monday after a recent run higher, as traders geared up for the week's major economic releases and set aside concerns over the eurozone debt crisis. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 0.06 per cent to 5,904.06 points in late morning trade. The Paris CAC 40 fell 0.05 per cent to 3,966.77 points, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 dropped 0.33 per cent to 6,923.06 points. The Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone companies lost 0.08 per cent to 2,909.15 points approaching the half-way stage. "It is a busy week for economic data, culminating in the latest US non-farm payrolls Friday," said IG Index trader Will Hedden. "With this in mind, and considering the strong rally seen for much of last week in equities, the FTSE may well struggle to make any decent progress in the days ahead." Ahead of the monthly US jobs report, traders in London will pore over the final official estimate of Britain's fourth-quarter growth data due Tuesday. "Elsewhere, global equity markets seem disconnected from events in Japan, the MENA (Middle EastNorth Africa) region and the eurozone," said Neil MacKinnon, an economist at financial group VTB Capital. In company news Monday, the share price of AstraZeneca rose 0.64 per cent to 2,892 pence after the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals giant settled a tax dispute with US authorities by agreeing on a net payment of $1.1 billion (783 million euros). AstraZeneca additionally raised its 2011 earnings target after also securing a lower tax rate and being able to free up some of the $2.3 billion it had set aside as tax provisions, it said in a group statement. Earlier, Asian shares mostly closed lower, with Tokyo slipping as emergency work to bring under control a crippled nuclear plant in Japan continued to be held up by high levels of radioactivity. Concerns over the Japanese crisis overshadowed another strong cue from Wall Street on Friday, where the Dow closed up 0.41 per cent thanks to an upward revision of the growth figure for the US economy in the last quarter of 2010. The Commerce Department said the world's biggest economy expanded at a rate of 3.1 per cent in the three months to December 31, up from the initial forecast of 2.8 per cent, adding to evidence the recovery there is gaining strength.