European stocks close narrowly mixed

EUROPEAN stock markets have closed narrowly mixed in choppy trade as investors waited in hope that a make-or-break EU summit will deliver a solution to the eurozone debt crisis. Dealers said there were persistent concerns that EU leaders will not come up with the comprehensive package they have promised in order to tame a crisis that now appears to threaten the whole euro project and the global economy. Heavily-indebted Italy, a new major source of concern, is hoping to convince its EU peers that it does not require a huge debt bailout similar to that handed out to Greece but there are doubts too on that front. Ahead of the summit, the European Commission called on eurozone leaders to deliver a "credible" response to the debt crisis. "We need a deal ... We expect a credible political answer to key questions on the table," commission spokesman Olivier Bailly told a news briefing just hours before European leaders were to meet in Brussels. Dealers said the markets traded in a narrow range through the day, pegged back by some of the negative headlines out of Brussels but supported by a strong early performance on Wall Street until that faded. In London, the FTSE-100 index of top companies closed up 0.50 per cent at 5553.24 points overnight. But in Paris, the CAC-40 slipped 0.15 per cent to 3169.62 points and in Frankfurt, the DAX 30 fell 0.51 per cent at 6016.07 points. Other European markets showed similar small gains and losses. In equally volatile trade, the euro was at lower at $US1.3836, off highs well above $US1.39 levels and down from $1.3904 late on Tuesday (local time) as the dollar dropped to 75.98 yen from 76.06 yen. In New York, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, after losing 1.74 per cent on Tuesday (local time), was up 1.28 per cent in early trade but by midday had slipped back to show a gain of only 0.50 per cent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite initially added 1.00 per cent but then fell, to show a loss of 0.32 per cent. "Buying interest comes despite a weak finish (Tuesday) ... to the prior session and angst about how members of the European Union will achieve any plans developed today during a summit," said analysts at Briefing.com. "EU summit uncertainty remains the primary concern as we head into today's crunch meeting," said Michael Hewson, an analyst at traders CMC Markets in London. The cancellation on Tuesday of a euro finance ministers meeting at the same time as the wider summit, undercut "confidence that EU leaders have a coherent plan to deal with the debt crisis", he said. There are major differences on how best to tackle the problems but the main sticking points are over eurozone plans to beef up its 440 billion euros ($A589.26 billion) rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, to persuade markets it has the means to protect indebted nations such as Greece and Italy. Leaders also want to agree on a huge write-down on Greek Government debt, so as to give Athens some breathing space, but they must also set aside funds to help the banks who will inevitably incur large losses in the process. In Asian trade early, shares mostly closed higher yesterday after reversing early losses as markets waited for the EU summit. Tokyo closed down 0.16 per cent and Hong Kong climbed 0.52 per cent.