BP to meet with U.S. president; J Sainsbury quarterly sales up
By Sarah Turner , MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European share markets flattened out on Wednesday, as several major Spanish banks traded in the red and automakers declined.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:SXXP 254.84, +0.56, +0.22%) traded flat at 254.34. The index ended with a 0.7% gain on Tuesday, after rising 5.9% over five sessions.
On Wednesday there were more signs that governments are acting to reduce deficits, with France reportedly outlining a plan to lift its retirement age to 62 from 60.
Additionally, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn will meet with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodrigo Zapatero on Friday in Madrid for talks on the economy.
A spokesperson at the IMF dismissed the idea that any rescue package is being planned, something the Spanish government also has repeatedly denied.
Santander (ES:SAN 8.96, +0.03, +0.35%) (STD 11.19, +0.74, +7.08%) shares pulled back from early gains to trade down 1% while BBVA (ES:BBVA 8.83, +0.09, +1.02%) (BBVA 10.95, +0.66, +6.41%) shares were down 0.6%.
Autos were also trading with losses, with BMW (DE:BMW 39.50, -0.40, -1.00%) shares down 2.1% and Daimler (DE:DAI 41.38, -1.06, -2.49%) shares down 2.6%.
Among the regional benchmarks, the German DAX index (DX:DAX 6,194, +18.73, +0.30%) rose 0.1% to 6,182.73, the French CAC-40 index (FR:PX1 3,677, +15.07, +0.41%) rose 0.2% to 3,669.64 and the U.K. FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,236, +17.69, +0.34%) edged up 0.2% to 5,229.91.
Asian shares traded higher and U.S. stock futures were pointing to a bit of a retreat on Wall Street with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures down 34 points.
The euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.2287, -0.0034, -0.2760%) declined 0.2% to $1.2290 against the dollar while sterling (CUR_GBPUSD 1.4802, +0.0002, +0.0135%) traded down 0.1% at $1.4772. Commodity futures were also in a tight range.
There were some notable advancers in the European oil and gas sector, with Royal Dutch Shell (UK:RDSA 1,823, +25.00, +1.39%) (RDS.A 54.05, +1.67, +3.19%) shares up 1.4% and Total (FR:FP 40.38, +0.52, +1.30%) (TOT 49.61, +1.78, +3.72%) shares up 1.4%.
BP (UK:BP. 346.15, +4.15, +1.21%) (BP 31.40, +0.73, +2.38%) , down 0.6%, said that it will meet with U.S. President Obama Wednesday "to discuss his proposal for arrangements to ensure that all legitimate claims in respect in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are paid out in a fair and timely manner."
British supermarket group J. Sainsbury (UK:SBRY 326.50, +2.10, +0.65%) rose 1% after its first-quarter comparable sales rose 4.6%, or by 1.1% excluding fuel. Total sales in the 12 weeks to June 12 climbed 7.6%, boosted by continued fuel-price inflation.
