Europe midday: Stocks fluctuate in tight range amid caution over Greece; US data eyed

European stocks flitted between small gains and losses, with investors reluctant to make any big moves in either direction amid continued uncertainty over Greece and ahead of key US data releases later in the day.

By 1200 BST, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index, France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX were all flat, along with Spain’s IBEX 35. Italy’s FTSE Mib was 0.2% weaker.

The euro, meanwhile, was up 0.4% against the greenback at $1.1100.

Greece hogged the limelight yet again, as the country’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said he would resign if Greeks voted ‘yes’ in the referendum.

He said that if Greeks were to vote that way, which he does not expect, the Greek government would find a way to reach an agreement with creditors.

Andy McLevey, head of dealing at Interactive Investor, said that with Greek debt negotiations seemingly on hold until after Sunday's referendum, investors are adopting a wait and see approach.

“US jobs data will be in focus ahead of the extended weekend break in the States,” he said.

Late on Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras delivered a television address in which he called on the country to reject the international bailout deal put forward by creditors, a day after Greece became the first developed economy to default on debt to the International Monetary Fund.

A slew of economic data releases out of the US was also contributing to the subdued tone on Thursday.

US nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate are out at 1330 BST – a day early due to the public holiday on Friday – along with initial jobless claims. US industrial new orders are at 1500 BST.

“Aside from watching (Greek) opinion polls the focus will switch to the rare phenomenon of Payrolls Thursday,” said Societe Generale. “With the soft patch behind the US economy and unemployment still falling, it would take weak data to prevent the rate hike cycle starting in September. Meanwhile the dollar has corrected enough that a September hike would be supportive.”

SocGen’s economists forecast a “steady as she goes” 210,000 payrolls gains, with unemployment down to 5.4% from 5.5% and wage growth edging down to 2.2%. “That’s a recipe for a quiet afternoon in FX but perhaps for a good one in equities.”

On the corporate front, shares in Spanish travel technology provider Amadeus IT Holding rose after the company said it has agreed to pay $830m for Accenture’s Navitaire unit.

On the downside, Electrolux fell sharply after US antitrust officials filed a lawsuit to block the sale of General Electric’s appliance business to the Swedish company, saying the $3.3bn deal would result in higher prices for US consumers.

In London, Lloyds Banking Group was in positive territory after announcing that the government has cut its stake in the bank to 15.9% from 16.87%, as it moves towards full privatisation.

Meanwhile, housebuilder Persimmon rose after it said first-half revenues increased 12% due to higher selling prices and higher volumes of new home sales.

Earlier, figures released by Eurostat showed that industrial producer prices in the Eurozone were stable in May compared with April, but down 2% on the year, in line with expectations, following a 2.1% drop in April.