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European markets post modest gains in languid trading

European stock markets posted modest gains on Thursday in line with a subdued morning on Wall Street, as investors adjusted their holdings ahead of a four-day closure for the Easter weekend, dealers said.

The London FTSE 100 index of leading shares showed a gain of 0.51 percent to 6,397.30 points. In Frankfurt the DAX added 0.37 percent to 7,099.91 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.04 percent to 5,741.38 points.

The DJ Euro STOXX 50 index of eurozone blue chip shares rose 0.23 percent to 4,271.54.

The major US share indexes displayed scant movement ahead of the extended Easter weekend break as the market awaited the release of a key employment snapshot, traders said.

Analysts said trading was languid ahead of Friday's release of a non-farm payrolls employment report for March with most analysts predicting an acceleration in US job growth last month.

In London, shares recovered earlier losses after the Band of England decided to leave interest rates at 5.25 percent, as expected.

In the absence of any significant newsflow, Anglo-South African insurer Old Mutual was one of the top FTSE 100 gainers, up 2.40 percent at £1.705 after Citigroup hiked its rating to "buy" from "hold" with a raised price target of £1.88, up from £1.87.

Oil and gas plays also offered support, with BP up 1.19 percent at £5.545 and Royal Dutch Shell 0.96 percent higher at £16.91.

On the merger and acquisition front, J Sainsbury closed flat at £5.61 amid talk KKR had pulled out of a private equity consortium that was mulling a takeover offer for the supermarket chain.

In Frankfurt, shares closed slightly higher amid muted trading volumes.

Engineering giant Siemens led blue-chip stocks higher, gaining 1.43 percent to 83.06 euros largely on technical trading grounds, dealers said.

In Paris, most stocks on the CAC-40 saw profit-taking, led by Electricite de France (EDF) -- down 1.59 percent at 63.27 euros, and telecommunications equipment group Alcatel-Lucent, off 1.18 percent at 9.91 euros.

Elsewhere in Europe, Milan's SP/MIB gained 0.12 percent to 42,463 points, in Brussels the BEL 20 lost 0.11 percent to 4,553.63 points and in Amsterdam the AEX rose 0.33 percent to 519.29 euros. The Swiss SMI market index gained 0.46 to 9,099.08. In Madrid the IBEX 35 index rose 0.41 percent to 14,974.9 points.
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