Europe close: Stocks edge higher as euro extends falls versus US dollar
A weaker euro helped most of the Continent's main equity gauges steer clear of losses, helped by big gains for Oil & Gas shares.
Germany's Dax also managed to close well-off its worst levels of the session, but in the end weaker-than-expected readings on economic activity in the country and out of its main export market outside of the European Union, China, sent shares in Frankfurt into the red.
"European equity markets are mixed as traders don’t know which way to look. In the past two months European markets have enjoyed a positive run, but traders are now looking for an incentive to stay long. The absence of any fresh positive news has encouraged some profit-taking," said David Madden at CMC Markets UK.
By the close of trading, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 0.05% or 0.18 points higher to 392.37, alongside a 0.06% or 7.67 point dip for the German Dax to 12,970.04.
Meanwhile, euro/dollar was significantly lower, losing 0.46% to trade at 1.18712.
Milan's FTSE Mibtel on the other hand was ahead by 0.31% or 75.70 points at 24,297.17, with the Cac-40 up by 0.23% or 12.48 points to 5,553.16.
Pacing gains at the sector level were Oil & Gas stocks, with the Stoxx 600 sector gauge up by 0.95% at 356.24, on the back of continued gains in crude oil futures.
Yields on euro area government bond yields were also moving higher in the background, in anticipation of a syndicated sale of the new benchmark 50-year Gilt in the UK, according to analysts at TD Securities.
Critically however, yields on similarly-dated Treasury notes in the States were climbing even more rapidly.
In economic news, Germany's Ministry of Finance reported that the rate of growth in the country's gross domestic product slowed from the 0.7% quarter-on-quarter clip observed over the last three months of 2017 to a pace of just 0.3% (consensus: 0.4%).
On the positive side of things, government statisticians said that gross fixed capital formation - which requires a substantial degree of confidence in the outlook - was "markedly higher", although both exports and imports retreated in comparison to the prior quarter.
Nevertheless, the first quarter data did mark the 15th consecutive quarter of growth, the longest such stretch since 1991.
Among the euro area's main economies, the steadiest rates of growth were seen in the Netherlands and Spain.
Another key indicator, the ZEW Institute's economic sentiment gauge for Germany printed in-line with economists' forecast for a reading of -8.2 in May.
However, it did serve to underline the multiple sources of uncertainty that were weighing on market participants.
ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach said: "The effects of the relatively positive values for German exports and production in March 2018 have been overshadowed in the most recent survey by uncertainty motivated by recent political events.
"The US decision to back out of the nuclear treaty with Iran and fears of a further escalation of the international trade conflict with the US, as well as a further rise of crude oil prices, have had an overall negative impact on economic expectations in Germany."