European Markets Take Siesta After Recent Rally

(RTTNews) - European stocks were unable to extend recent gains on Wednesday following more downbeat consumer news out of Germany, the region's economic engine.

An afternoon rally fizzled out, leaving most European averages little changed from the previous session.

With much of Europe "out of the office" on vacation, there were few corporate headlines to digest.

A survey conducted by market research group GfK found German consumer sentiment is set to drop in September. The forward-looking consumer confidence index fell to 8.6 from a revised score of 8.9 in August. The index was expected to drop marginally to 8.9 from August's initially estimated value of 9.

Meanwhile, Germany's import prices declined at a faster rate in July, more than the consensus estimate, a report from the statistical office Destatis showed.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks eased 0.15 percent, but are up 3.55 percent from a week ago.

The German DAX was down 0.2 percent, while the French CAC 40, Switzerland's SMI and the UK's FTSE 100 were virtually unchanged

In stock action, LEG Immobilien rose 0.85 percent. The stock was cut to "Equalweight" from "Overweight" at Morgan Stanley.

Infineon gained around 1 percent. Credit Suisse initiated the stock with an "Outperform" rating.

OneSavings Bank jumped 6.4 percent, after reporting increased profit for the first half.

Ryanair, which launched its London Stansted Summer 2015 schedule, added 3.7 percent.

Foxtons Group dropped 10 percent. The real estate agent expects the growth in transaction volumes in the second half to slow from the rapid rate seen in the first half.

Telecom Italia, which indirectly holds Tim Participacoes SA, picked up 3.1 percent in Milan after Oi SA said it is considering options to buy a stake in Tim.