European stocks diverge as mkts track Ukraine


FE Team | Published: May 13, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00


LONDON, May 12 (AFP): European stock markets rose on Monday as investor attention focused on the Ukraine-Russia crisis following disputed referendums at the weekend, analysts said.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 0.20 per cent to stand at 6,828.29 points in morning deals.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 climbed 0.25 per cent to 9,605.16 points and in Paris the CAC 40 eased 0.12 per cent to 4,471.71 compared with Friday's closing values.
"Once again the weekend has brought with it heightened concerns over Ukraine, with the referendum, unsurprisingly, holding in favour of a break away from Kiev," said Spreadex trader David White.
"But the market seems a little more comfortable with risk at this point, needing more to induce fierce selling than when the crisis first took hold.
"Indeed, worry over this issue failed to dampen optimism for Asian stocks, as hopes for government stimulus last night helped inflate China-listed stocks," he added.
Pro-Russian rebels claimed late on Sunday that voters in eastern Ukraine massively backed independence, in disputed polls which Kiev and the West dismissed as an illegal "farce".
The West also rejected the self-determination poll amid fears that these disputed votes could hasten the break-up of the former Soviet Republic and lead to a civil war on Europe's eastern edge.
The euro rose to $1.3763 from $1.3758 late in New York on last Friday.
The European single currency dropped to 81.48 pence from 81.63 pence on Friday, while the British pound increased to $1.6891 from $1.6844.
The price of gold dipped to $1,291.06 an ounce on the London Bullion Market from $1,291.25 on Friday.
On the corporate front, shares in BSkyB slid 2.25 per cent to 869.95 pence after the British pay-TV group said it had held talks to buy 21st Century Fox's interests in Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia to create a pan-European television giant.

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