(MENAFN- AFP) Europe's main stock markets wobbled Wednesday as traders tracked Greece's efforts to renegotiate its vast international bailout deal and crude oil prices.
After spending most of the day in the red, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index advanced to a 0.19 percent gain to a record high close of 10,911.32 points, and in Paris the CAC 40 rose 0.39 percent to 4,696.30 points.
However London's FTSE 100 slid 0.17 percent to 6,860.02 points as a drop in oil prices weighed on energy stocks.
Madrid slid 0.19 percent and Milan 0.33 percent on profit taking.
"Oil prices continue to dominate equity markets as Tuesday's oil-inspired rally gets flipped on its head the next day with an oil-motivated fall," said analyst Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets UK.
After rising Tuesday on signs of falling production, oil prices fell back after US crude inventories hit a new record high since 1930 at 413.1 million barrels at the end of last week.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in March tumbled $2.92 to $50.13 a barrel compared with Tuesday's close.
Brent North Sea crude for March shed $2.05 a barrel to trade at $55.87 in London afternoon trade.
- Greeks seek debt relief -
Investors also tracked efforts by Greece's new government to drum up support for a renegotiation of the country's 240-billion-euro ($270-billion) international rescue.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and French President Francois Hollande.
A Greek government source said Tsipras and Juncker had discussed plans to "jointly" create a four-year reform plan for Greece.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis held talks with European Central Bank president Mario Draghi in Frankfurt, but it was unclear whether the ECB will continue its exceptional support for Greek banks or agree to any of the measures sought by Athens to ease its budgetary strain.
Varoufakis said he had held a "very fruitful discussion and exchange" with Draghi, "which gives me a great deal of encouragement for the future".
In the run-up to the meetings, a report in the Financial Times had suggested that Draghi would take a tough line with Varoufakis and could even block a key element in Athens' plans to renegotiate its bailout.
"The euro came under renewed pressure to retest 1.14 against the dollar as investors remained cautious regarding the ongoing discussions of Greek prime minister with the other European leaders and the ECB," said analyst Myrto Sokou at Sucden Research.
The euro declined to $1.1423 at 1700 GMT from $1.1479 late in New York on Tuesday.
Back in Athens, the new Greek government held its first bond auction since taking office, raising 812.5 million euros in six-month treasury bills on a higher rate than last month.
The rate was 2.75 percent, compared with 2.30 percent secured on comparable bonds issued on January 7.
The sale, which was watched closely as an indication of investor confidence in the new government, attracted less interest than previously.
But Greek stocks still managed an 0.89 percent gain Wednesday after having soared over 11 percent on Tuesday.
- Oil stocks slide -
On the corporate front, European pay-TV broadcasting giant Sky saw its share price climb 1.33 percent to 955.50 pence after posting soaring half-year profits.
The biggest loser was brokerage Hargreaves Lansdown, which slid 7.56 percent to 966 pence on falling interim earnings.
Energy stocks were also punished. Tullow Oil fell 5.15 percent to 395.9 pence, Royal Dutch Shell's A share lost 1.06 percent to 2,157 pence and BP shed 1.0 percent to 445.35 pence.
In Paris, shares in LVMH shot up 8.13 percent to 156.25 euros after the luxury group saw sales rise 6 percent last year to 30.6 billion euros.
Investors looked past the fact that if exceptional items were excluded, the company that makes Louis Vuitton handbags and Moet & Chandon champagne saw net and operational profit fall.
US stocks were trying to push firmly upwards in midday trading on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.32 percent to 17,722.56 points, helped by positive earnings by General Motors and Disney.
But the broader S&P 500 slipped 0.01 percent to 2,049.82, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.05 percent to 4,730.09.
Asian stocks profited from Tuesday's rally on optimism regarding Greece and oil prices rebounded to their highest levels this year.
Tokyo surged 1.98 percent, and Sydney rose for a 10th successive session, adding 1.23 percent.
Seoul ended 0.55 percent higher, while Hong Kong added 0.51 percent.
However, profit-taking hit Shanghai, with the benchmark index closing 0.96 percent lower.
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