European stock markets retreat

European stock markets fell Wednesday as worries over Greece offset positive German data, analysts said, with focus also on the aviation sector as more details of the Alps plane crash emerged.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index edged down 0.04 percent compared with Tuesday's close to 7,016.71 points, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 index slid 0.44 percent to 11,952.29 points and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.83 percent to stand at 5,045.99.

The euro climbed to $1.0980 from $1.0919 late in New York on Tuesday.

German business confidence rose to its highest level in eight months in March, as optimism continues to grow about the outlook for Europe's biggest economy, the Ifo economic institute said Wednesday.

The Ifo institute's closely watched business climate index rose to 107.9 points this month, its highest level since July 2014, the think tank said in a statement.

"Despite the latest German Ifo business climate data beating expectations, this good news couldn't inspire much growth in the DAX, or the rest of the eurozone, with the region appearing to be hampered by the euro taking back some of yesterday's losses against the dollar alongside more worries about Greece's financial situation," said Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex trading group.

The European Central Bank has written to Greek banks urging them not to increase their exposure to Greek sovereign debt to avoid endangering the solidity of their finances, a source told AFP on Wednesday.

The ECB, which took over as European banking supervisor last November, was concerned about the risk "that (Greek banks') balance sheets might be impaired by assets of low quality", said the source familiar with the central bank's thinking on the matter.

Attention remained on airlines a day after an Airbus plane flown by budget carrier Germanwings crashed in the French Alps, killing all 150 passengers and crew.

Shares in German parent group Lufthansa were down 0.77 percent to 13.46 euros after sliding Tuesday. Airbus shares dropped 2.24 percent to 58.96 euros.

Lufthansa chief Carsten Spohr on Wednesday said the plane operated by its low-cost subsidiary Germanwings had been "in perfect condition".

In Italy, shares in Italian auto design group Pininfarina surged more than 10 percent on a report that Indian conglomerate Mahindra was planning a bid.

In mid-afternoon trading, the stock was up nearly 15 percent at 4.69 euros, giving the financially troubled group a market capitalisation of more than 140 million euros.

Quoting sources close to the negotiations, Bloomberg said Mahindra was on the verge of purchasing a company responsible for the design of more than 1,000 cars for the likes of Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Peugeot.

- Food merger pleases Street -

Elsewhere, Shanghai stocks retreated for the first time in 11 sessions Wednesday on profit-taking but other Asian equity markets were mixed after a healthy batch of US data revived the prospect of an early interest rate hike.

Global investors are keeping a close watch on the United States, looking for any signs that could give an idea of when the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates.

Comments last week from the central bank that the economy still had weaknesses cooled expectations that it would announce an increase in early summer.

However, markets took note of news from the Labor Department that inflation hit 0.2 percent in February. That followed three successive months of falling prices, including January's 0.7 percent drop, which was the steepest since late 2008 during the financial crisis.

US stocks opened higher Wednesday, buoyed by the proposed mega-merger of HJ Heinz and Kraft Foods, creating North America's third-largest food and beverage conglomerate.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.10 percent to 18,028.60 after five minutes of trading. The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.21 percent at 2,095.94, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.12 percent to 5,000.49.

Kraft surged 32.6 percent to $80.99 as Heinz's owners 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway agreed to pay about $10 billion in a special dividend of $16.50 per share to Kraft shareholders in the deal, representing a 27 percent premium to Kraft's closing price on Tuesday.

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