LONDON: European equities ended mostly up on Wednesday, as investors took their cue from encouraging US employment data and shrugged off a S&P downgrade for Ireland and clashes in Egypt.
London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares climbed 0.71 percent to 6,000.07 points.
In Paris, the CAC 40 slipped 0.15 percent to 4,066.53 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX ended unchanged at 7,183.67 points.
Strong US jobs data helped London stay in positive territory, ahead of the keenly awaited government jobs numbers Friday.
US businesses hired more people than expected in January amid record-low job cuts for the month, private payrolls firm ADP said.
Businesses added 187,000 jobs in January, starting the year with "solid growth" across major industries, ADP said.
The increase topped the average analyst forecast of 145,000 new private-sector jobs, but was lower than December's revised 247,000, initially reported as 297,000.
The Dublin stock market initially took in stride news that Standard and Poor's had downgraded its short- and long-term debt ratings for Ireland by one notch, citing concerns about the health of the nation's banking sector, but late in the day was down 0.40 percent.
European markets took the downgrades in their stride following news of a successful Portuguese auction of Treasury bills -- short-dated debt instruments to help manage short-term financial commitments.
"Equity markets are largely unaffected from the Ireland ratings cut from the S&P which is of no real surprise considering the fragility of its debt," said City Index analyst Joshua Raymond.
"The fact that the Portuguese T-Bill auction went well this morning is also going to help curtail any negative sentiment born out of the Ireland rating cut."
S&P announced in a statement that it has lowered its long-term ratings on the Republic of Ireland to 'A-' from 'A' and its short-term ratings to 'A-2' from 'A-1'.
"The downgrade for Ireland from S&P this morning has had a minimal effect on the market as credit ratings agencies are really considered reactionary and not a good lead indicator these days," added analyst Kathleen Brooks at trading site Forex.com.
"The markets seem to be more interested in progress on a debt-crisis resolution which the EU president announced today should be finalised next month."
Elsewhere in Europe, Amsterdam nudged up 0.08 percent, Lisbon gained 0.28 percent, Madrid added 0.39 percent, and Milan climbed 0.57 percent. Swiss stocks finished unchanged.
Clashes between supporters of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his opponents in central Cairo roiled US stock markets in early trading Wednesday, as traders worried about rising instability in the region.
"Those who were sanguine about Egypt and the contagion risk must re-think their positions," said David Kotok of Cumberland Advisors. "We are seeing the contagion signs in Jordan, Yemen and other countries."
The blue-chip Dow fell 0.10 percent in early trading, with the broader S&P 500 index falling 0.31 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index dipping 0.16 percent.
Later, at 1700 GMT the Dow was flat at 12,040.76, after having closed Tuesday above 12,000 points for the first time since June 2008.
The S&P 500 was down 0.13 percent to 1,305.87, while the Nasdaq index was up 0.13 percent at 2,745.65.
Egypt sits astride the strategically vital Suez Canal and at the centre of the oil-rich Middle East.
"We expect more violence," said Kotok, "we do not know how this will turn out. We do not have an estimate of the eventual spread. We do not know how much economic damage will be witnessed in global markets and in the incipient global economic recovery."
Asian stocks jumped Wednesday after the Dow closed at a two-and-a-half-year high on the back of data indicating the US economy is gaining strength.
Tokyo's Nikkei surged 1.78 percent to end at 10,457.36 and Sydney closed 0.93 percent higher at 4,796.5.
Hong Kong ended 1.81 percent higher at 23,908.96 in a shortened trading day due to the Lunar New Year holidays, while Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei were closed.
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