European Stocks End Week On A Lackluster Note

(RTTNews) - European stocks were mixed Friday, with German shares lagging behind other markets thanks to concerns about global demand for industrial goods.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks was up 0.29 percent, and is up more than 4 percent year-to-date.

The German DAX was down 0.28 percent. The French CAC 40 and the UK's FTSE 100 and Switzerland's SMI inched into positive territory.

In Frankfurt, Capital IQ raised Merck to ''Buy'' from ''Hold.'' Shares were up 1.3 percent.

Detergent maker Henkel and utility RWE also rallied. Goldman Sachs raised RWE to ''Buy'' from ''Neutral.''

Adidas lost 1.2 percent after a broker downgrade.

In Paris, Bouygues is gaining 4 percent on a report that it discussed a transaction with Orange more than once.

Travel group TUI, which reported a narrower quarterly loss, dropped 4 percent in London.

Supermarket chains Sainsbury and WM Morrison both posted notable gains.

Intertek Group, which issued a 4-month trading update, lost 3.3 percent. The company said market conditions remain variable with good growth in key product-related business lines but weak demand in certain other markets.

Credit Suisse gained 0.6 percent in Zurich. The lender is nearing a deal to plead guilty and pay around $2.5 billion to the U.S Justice Department and regulators amid allegations that it helped wealthy Americans evade taxes, reports said.

Euro area foreign trade surplus rose more-than-expected in March. Figures from Eurostat showed that the trade surplus came in at a non-seasonally adjusted 17.1 billion euros, which exceeded economists' expectations for 16 billion euros.