By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks lost ground Tuesday
following five sessions of gains, but Alcatel-Lucent SA shares
outperformed, jumping as the French telecommunications-equipment
company talks for a possible buyout by Nokia Corp.
The Stoxx Europe 600 has been darting between small gains and
losses. Most recently, it slipped 0.1% to 413.08 as financial and
telecom shares flipped into the red.
However, Alcatel shares topped the pan-European benchmark with
an 11% surge after Finland's Nokia (NOK) confirmed it is in
advanced talks to buy its French rival. There are no details about
the possible valuation of the deal, which may not go through, the
companies said.
Alcatel shares led advancers on France's CAC 40 , but overall,
that index was down 0.2% at 5,242.59.
Nokia shares fell 7%, the sharpest decliner on the Stoxx
600.
A tie-up between the two networking and telecoms equipment
makers would follow years of speculation about a possible deal
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nokia-confirms-talks-to-buy-alcatel-lucent-2015-04-14).
If they merge, it would create a new global networking heavyweight
to rival Sweden's Ericsson (ERICY) and China's Huawei
Technologies.
European investors last week saw huge M&A deals announced,
with British oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC agreeing to take over
BG Group PLC for GBP47 billion ($68.7 billion), and Dutch
parcel-delivery company TNT Express NV agreeing to be purchased by
FedEx Corp. (FDX) for about EUR4.4 billion ($4.64 billion).
Meanwhile, investors are still grappling with what Greece's debt
troubles may mean for the future of the eurozone. The Financial
Times on Tuesday reported the country is preparing to default on
some of its debt payments. Greek officials have denied the report.
Greece's Athex Composite lost 0.8% to 771.09. Trading was closed
Monday for the Orthodox Easter holiday.
Germany's DAX fell 0.6% to 12,266.07, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100
was flat at 7,063, losing its grip on earlier gains. The pound
(GBPUSD) fell to $1.4615 after the release of data showing U.K.
consumer prices were flat in March
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-consumer-prices-stay-flat-in-march-2015-04-14-4485508).
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