European shares mixed, euro higher amid bank results

European stock markets diverged and the euro rose against the dollar on Thursday as traders reacted to mixed earnings from the region's biggest banks and varied eurozone economic data. Dealers were also tracking the latest developments surrounding Greece, as the nation's parliament focused on approving laws for a historic debt write down with private creditors, a condition for a new eurozone bailout. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 0.16 percent to 5,916.48 points in late morning deals, as investors digested news of heavy losses at state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Frankfurt's DAX 30 dropped 0.37 percent to 6,838.94 points and the Paris CAC 40 eased 0.10 percent to 3,437.77 points approaching midday. Madrid slid 1.24 percent and Milan surrendered 1.38 percent. In foreign exchange trade, the euro climbed to $1.3323 from $1.3252 late in New York on Wednesday. The dollar dipped to 80.06 yen from 80.29 yen, while gold prices grew to $1,778.43 an ounce compared with $1,752 an ounce on Wednesday. "It's all about bank results today and tomorrow," said Simon Denham, head of Capital Spreads trading group. "As expected RBS has posted a loss but a much bigger one than expected (...) These figures today show just how susceptible the banking sector still is to Greece as well as general European sovereign debt and it's not just RBS that is having the make large write downs. "Banks across the whole of Europe are suffering from huge write downs to their assets." Shares in RBS rose 3.29 percent to 28.25 pence, with investors welcoming the bank's underlying profits. But taking into account losses due to Greece and other exceptional charges, RBS posted a net loss of £1.99 billion (2.35 billion euros, $3.12 billion) for 2011, up from £1.12 billion in 2010. A whole host of European banks published earnings on Thursday. Commerzbank shares slumped 4.78 percent to 1.97 euros after Germany's second-biggest bank said the eurozone debt crisis and losses on its investments in Greece halved had annual profits. French bank Natixis, part of the BPCE group, saw its shares jump 6.93 percent to 2.498 euros despite 2011 net profit falling by 10 percent. Analysts at the CM-CIC brokerage underscored "the strong resistance of the economic model" chosen by Natixis, and hailed its expectations of meeting internationally agreed bank reserve levels by January 2013. Credit Agricole however dropped 3.29 percent to 4.84 euros after the French lender reported a net loss of 1.47 billion euros ($1.95 billion) last year. Markets also reacted to news that German business confidence rose to a seven-month high level in February as robust domestic demand helped protect the German economy against the debt crisis. The Ifo economic institute's closely watched business climate index beat analysts' expectations to rise for the fourth month in a row to 109.6 points in February from 108.3 points in January. That is the highest level since July 2011 and is a positive sign for the German economy, the biggest in the European Union. Offsetting the good data were EU figures that predicted a eurozone recession throughout 2012, with a 0.3-percent contraction compared to 0.5-percent growth and a likely downturn in the previous November forecast.