Visitors pass through the main entrance of the London Stock Exchange Group headquarters. The benchmark FTSE 100 index ended virtually unchanged at 6,796.71 points yesterday.

AFP/London

European stocks markets remained largely flat yesterday as investors digested a rise in British unemployment and downbeat housing data from the winter-struck US.

In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 index ended virtually unchanged at 6,796.71 points.

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 also trod water ending at 9,660.05 points, while the CAC 40 in Paris climbed 0.24% to 4,341.10 points.

Investors “lacked appetite” amid “low volumes and little traction from the corporate results season,” said analyst Mikael Jacoby of Oddo Securities in Paris.

Britain’s jobless rate firmed to 7.2% in the quarter to December, official data showed, easing pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates.

The Bank of England (BoE) faces intense pressure from financial markets to begin raising its main interest rate from a record low-level of 0.50% as Britain’s economic recovery picks up speed.

With markets pricing in future rate rises, sterling recently shot up to three-year highs against the dollar, though movement yesterday was more subdued.

The European single currency fell to 82.32 British pence from 82.46 pence on Tuesday.

The pound rose to $1.6716 from $1.6680.

The euro gained to $1.3761 from $1.3756 late in New York on Tuesday.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold dipped to $1,320.50 an ounce from $1,320.75 on Tuesday.

The ruble meanwhile plunged further, hitting yet another record low value against the euro.

US stocks yesterday mostly rose despite data showing an unexpectedly big decline in new home construction and building permits in January.

In midday trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.36% to 16,188.01.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.18% to 1,844.06, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost just 0.03% at 4,271.50.

Housing starts in the US sank 16.0% from December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 880,000, the Commerce Department said, well below analyst forecasts of 963,000.

Building permits dropped 5.4% to 937,000, below the 980,000 forecast.

Analysts have somewhat downplayed economic data for December and January, believing that unusually cold weather in much of the US has depressed economic activity.

“From our vantage point, we think the housing starts report suggests weather did have some undue impact, but that the weakness was not all weather-related,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

All eyes on Fed -Later yesterday investors will also look to minutes from the Fed’s last meeting as well as US housing start figures for January.

“It will be interesting to see if there was any discussion to accelerate or slow the pace of tapering” stimulus, National Australia Bank said in a note, referring to the minutes.

In company news, all eyes were on stricken Peugeot Citroen after it handed part-control to Chinese firm Dongfeng and the French state to win a new lease of life.

The shareholder tie-ups end the 200-year-old grip of the Peugeot family dynasty, but will raise at least 3.0bn euros ($4.13bn) for Peugeot Citroen.

The company, the biggest auto group in France with about 90,000 employees, desperately needs new capital to climb away from near disaster and develop innovative hybrid engine technology.

Shares in the group jumped by 7.88% initially, but then showed a loss of 1.52% to 12.31 euros.