LONDON, March 11 — Europe’s main stock markets diverged today as traders assessed unease over China and Ukraine in the absence of major regional data releases, analysts said.

London’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.3 per cent to stand at 6,691.62 points in afternoon trade.

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 climbed 0.58 per cent to 9,319.10 points while in Paris the CAC 40 slipped 0.36 per cent to 4,354.90 compared with yesterday’s closing values.

Milan was off 0.10 per cent despite data showing the Italian economy returned to growth in the fourth quarter last year after its longest post-war recession of more than two years.

“A bounce in Chinese equities after yesterday’s rout wasn’t enough to convince UK markets this morning, with equities selling off,” said Toby Morris, trader at CMC Markets.

“The Ukraine situation continues to rumble with no conclusion which doesn’t help sentiment.”

Asian stock markets closed higher today following big losses in the previous session but investors were largely unmoved by the Bank of Japan’s decision to sit tight over its stimulus programme.

Tokyo added 0.69 per cent, Seoul climbed 0.48 per cent, and Sydney was flat.

Shanghai advanced 0.10 per cent and Hong Kong was almost unchanged.

Global markets suffered a sell-off yesterday in response to a shock trade deficit in China that raised concerns about the economy, second-biggest in the world, while Japan revised down its growth for 2013.

US stocks opened slightly higher today as investors shrugged off a report showing a drop in small business sentiment.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.09 per cent to 16,433.16 points.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.12 per cent at 1,879.38, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.21 per cent to 4,343.69.

The National Federation of Independent Business said its index of business confidence for February fell 2.7 points to 91.4, a reading associated with low growth.

But some analysts downplayed the index’s fall, blaming it on the severe winter weather that has played a role in other recent poor economic data.

Euro slips

In foreign exchange trading, the euro fell to US$1.3850 from US$1.3875 late in New York the day before.

The dollar rose to ¥103.32 from ¥103.26.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold climbed to US$1,347.71 an ounce from US$1,344 on yesterday.

In Ukraine, the country’s Crimea peninsula yesterday voted for full independence ahead of a referendum to join Russia, while France threatened sanctions against Moscow as early as this week.

The latest escalation of Europe’s worst crisis for decades came moments after Ukraine’s ousted pro-Kremlin leader Viktor Yanukovych defiantly vowed to return to Kiev from Russia and declared he was still the leader of the ex-Soviet country.

“The possibility of a war is forcing dealers to remain on the sidelines,” said David Madden, market analyst at traders IG.

Meanwhile, emerging economies are expected to hold down global growth with their “sub-par” performance, the OECD forecast today, warning that the risk of recent turmoil hitting developing markets could intensify.

But advanced economies are expected to post strengthening growth, although at a slower pace in the first half of 2014 than in the second half of last year.

The good news from the developed world is being offset by a slowdown in emerging economies, some of which have seen massive capital outflows as the United States began to “taper” its US$85-billion a month stimulus programme. — AFP