European stock markets closed mostly in negative territory on Wednesday as traders cashed in recent gains and chewed over mixed eurozone inflation figures.

Cathay Pacific said Wednesday that 2012 net profit plunged more than 83 percent, as the Hong Kong flag carrier was buffeted by persistently high fuel prices and the eurozone financial crisis.

Commerzbank shares plunged Wednesday after Germany's second-largest bank said it would carry out a 2.5-billion-euro ($3.3-billion) capital hike to pay back state bailouts received during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

European stock markets fell on Wednesday, mirroring earlier losses in Asia, as traders cashed in recent gains and chewed over mixed eurozone inflation figures.

European stock markets fell on Wednesday, mirroring earlier losses in Asia, as traders cashed in recent gains and absorbed diverging eurozone inflation data.

London equities dropped at the start of trading on Wednesday following losses overnight in Tokyo and a mixed performance on Wall Street.

Cathay Pacific said on Wednesday that 2012 net profit plunged 83.3 percent, as the Hong Kong flag carrier was hit by persistently high fuel prices and the eurozone financial crisis.

Shares in London closed a little higher on Tuesday, drawing support from more positive Eurozone macroeconomic news.

Spain's borrowing costs eased as it sold 5.832 billion euros in short-term debt on Tuesday, in a sign of further-strengthening market confidence in the crisis-hit country.

The Bundesbank said on Tuesday that its net profit for last year rose only slightly from a year earlier, owing to a steep increase in risk provisions.

Swiss banking giant UBS said Tuesday it would nominate German stock market chief Reto Francioni to its board after the former head of Lufthansa, Wolfgang Mayrhuber, had opted not to stand for re-election.

Data confirms recession in the eurozone's weakest economies last year, breathing new life into a heated debate on whether aggressive austerity measures may come at the cost of economic growth.

Shares in London strengthened at the close on Monday, gaining ground in tandem with a rally on Wall Street, where investors continued to draw confidence from last week's positive US jobs data.

European stock markets closed on Monday with mixed but mainly weaker results as disappointing Chinese economic data offset positive job numbers out of the United States, analysts said.

Europe's main stock markets closed after turning in mixed performances on Monday, with London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies gaining 0.31 percent to 6,503.63 points.

Economic problems in Cyprus "directly" affect struggling Greece and the traditional allies will coordinate policies ahead of a European eurozone summit later this week, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Monday.

Cyprus's recession-hit eurozone economy contracted by 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 from a year earlier, an official estimate said Monday, revising an earlier flash figure of 3.1 percent.

Italy's economy shrank by 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 from the previous one, official data showed Monday, confirming a previous estimate that showed the recession in the eurozone's third largest economy deepening.

Germany's trading activity got off to a strong start this year with both exports and imports rising in January, official data showed on Monday.

Factfile on the Falkland Islands, which hold a referendum Sunday and Monday on their status as a British overseas territory: