LONDON (ShareCast) - It was a largely inconclusive day for European stocks, with mixed data from the US leaving investors confused.

In the US, the Empire State manufacturing index fell to -5.9 this month, well down from 7.4 in July. Consensus forecasts were for a more modest fall to 7.0.

If that outcome was disappointing, there was better news from the US factory floor, with industrial output increasing by 0.6% in July, slightly ahead of the 0.5% growth expected.

Mining stocks had a bad day. An official at Brazilian iron ore miner Vale put mining bulls in a bad mood when he suggested that China's "golden years" as the engine of global growth are behind it.

That pronouncement also seemed to hit demand for steel makers such as ArecelorMittal and ThyssenKrupp.

Results from Kazakhstan-focused miner ENRC did not help sentiment towards the mining sector. Eurasian Natural Resources Corp (to give it its full name) was hit by a fall in commodity prices and challenging economic conditions in the first half, meaning that both revenues and profits were significantly lower than the same period in 2011.

Meanwhile, comments from European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn have put the issue of a Spanish bailout back in the spotlight.

Speaking on Bloomberg Television yesterday Rehn signalled that Spain's government is considering a request for a sovereign bailout although no decision has been made.

"The Spanish government has an open mind on this issue, but no decision has been made," Rehn said. "We stand ready to act if there is a request."

On the companies front, Dutch phone company Royal KPN has yanked the proposed sale of its Belgian mobile-phone unit, Base, as it has not attracted the level of bids it hoped for.

Nokia, which was one of the big fallers in Europe yesterday as new market research data suggested it continues to bleed market share in the mobile phone market, has bounced back today after its Chief Executive Officer, former Microsoft man Stephen Elop, told the Reuters news agency that the Finnish handset maker will stick to using Microsoft operating system for phones. The Microsoft platform is an also-ran in the world of mobile phones.

US rating agency S&P tried to spoil the party, downgrading its credit rating for Nokia to BB- from BB+ and reiterating a negative outlook for further downgrades. The move places the Finnish company's rating further into junk status.

S&P explained that Nokia's second quarter's results and third quarter outlook were below initial expectations. The rating agency expects Nokia's net cash position to fall below 3 billion euros before the end of the year. It now considers the group's business risk profile to be "weak" and the financial risk to be "significant" as opposed to intermediate.

Danish brewer Carlsberg has released what are probably not the best results in the world, covering the second quarter. Earnings before interest and tax declined to DKr.3.47bn, versus expectations in the market of DKr.3.9bn. Revenue was up 4.5% to DKr.19.6bn, however. With currency effects stripped out, the top line rose 2%.

Carlsberg stuck by its full year earnings guidance, banking on a better rouble exchange rate - Russia is a key market for the brewer - offsetting the effects of a soggy summer.

Swiss cement maker Holcim proved that its management structure is not set in concrete as it announced an overhaul that will see three managers exit the firm's executive committee.

The firm returned to the black with a quarterly profit of CHF.379m, versus market expectations of CHF.353m. Sales edged up 2% to CHF.5.6bn, slightly less the CHF.5.7bn the market had been expecting.

DAX risers
K+S € 40.17 +0.99%
E.ON € 17.95 +0.73%
Merck KGaA € 86.58 +0.51%

DAX Fallers
ThyssenKrupp € 15.77 -2.32%
Metro € 23.51 -1.47%
Volkswagen € 144.95 -1.16%

CAC 40 - Risers
Technip (TEC) € 87.40 +1.46%
Sanofi (SAN) € 68.76 +1.31%
Credit Agricole (ACA) € 3.99 +1.17%
Unibail-Rodamco (UL) € 163.70 +0.99%
Veolia Environnement (VIE) € 8.33 +0.96%
Danone (BN) € 49.29 +0.79%
Legrand SA (LR) € 26.98 +0.67%
GDF Suez (GSZ) € 19.73 +0.66%
Societe Generale (GLE) € 20.35 +0.47%
EADS (EAD) € 30.41 +0.45%

CAC 40 - Fallers
ArcelorMittal SA (MT) € 12.42 -2.82%
Alstom (ALO) € 27.75 -1.37%
Vinci (DG) € 34.75 -1.18%
Bouygues (EN) € 21.84 -1.15%
Lafarge (LG) € 37.01 -1.10%
Carrefour (CA) € 15.77 -0.91%
Vallourec (VK) € 36.42 -0.86%
LVMH (MC) € 133.30 -0.71%
Pernod Ricard (RI) € 87.91 -0.62%
PPR (PP) € 127.15 -0.55%

JH

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE