--European stocks and euro stable after Ifo Index --Crude oil prices jump on Tropical Storm Isaac --Nokia shares benefit from Apple's court victory over Samsung By Martin Essex European stocks and the euro were both stable Monday despite news of a fourth consecutive fall in the Ifo Index of German business sentiment. But crude oil futures rose sharply as Tropical Storm Isaac threatened production in the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico. Ifo's business climate index fell to 102.3 in August, worse than the 102.7 forecast and down from 103.2 in July, a figure revised down marginally from the 103.3 reported previously. "Within the Ifo, it is the expectations index that has been most useful at tracking GDP growth. And...it is sending the same message as last week's German composite purchasing managers' index, which fell 0.5 points to 47.0," said Greg Fuzesi, euro-zone economist at JPMorgan Chase. Both surveys point to economic growth declining at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of around 0.5% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2012, he said. By 1125 GMT, Frankfurt's DAX index was up 0.1% at 6981.26, Paris's CAC-40 was up marginally at 3433.93 and the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.1% at 268.18. London's markets were closed for a U.K. public holiday. In European foreign exchanges, it was a similar story, with the euro shrugging off the German data on a day when few economic releases are scheduled for either Europe or the U.S. At 1125 GMT, the euro was trading at $1.2524, marginally higher than the $1.2512 it was trading at late Friday in New York. The dollar was stable, quoted at Y78.71, barely changed from Y78.70 late Friday. There was more interest in the oil markets, where crude-oil futures were higher on worries that Tropical Storm Isaac could shut down some of the U.S. oil-producing and refining capacity and a large U.S. oil-import terminal. October Brent futures were up 53 cents at $114.12 a barrel at 1125 GMT, while October Nymex futures were up 83 cents at $96.98. Looking ahead, Wall Street stocks look set to open steady, as do U.S. Treasury futures. The September Dow Jones Industrial Average futures contract was up nine at 13,165 at 1125 GMT, while the September S&P 500 future was up 3.70 at 1413.50 and the September Nasdaq 100 future was up 16.0 at 2791.00. The September U.S. Treasury note future was quoted at 133-210, up from 133-185. Among individual European stocks, UniCredit (UCG.MI) was largely unaffected by press reports about a U.S. probe into its business dealings with Iran. Its shares were up 0.5% at EUR3.12. However, Nokia (NOK) shares jumped 11% to EUR2.78 on Apple's (AAPL) court victory over Samsung (005930.SE), which is expected to benefit Nokia in the smart-phone market. Elsewhere, September Bund futures were down 0.32 at 143.68. The gold price was down 50 cents at $1668.70 an ounce. Write to Martin Essex at martin.essex@dowjones.com or on Twitter @MartinEssexDJN

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