European stocks close: stocks closed higher despite the weaker-than-expected German ZEW economic sentiment index

Stock indices closed higher despite the weaker-than-expected German ZEW economic sentiment index. Germany's ZEW economic sentiment index decreased unexpectedly to 53.3 in April from 54.8 in March, missing expectations for a rise to 56.0.

It was the first decrease since October 2014.

The decline was driven by lower export prospects.

The ZEW President Clemens Fuest said that Germany's economy "is in good shape".

Eurozone's ZEW economic sentiment index rose to 64.8 in April from 62.4 in March, beating expectations for a gain to 63.7.

The Greek debt problem continue to weigh on markets. The country is still running out of cash, and it needs a new tranche of loans. The Greek government hopes to unblock a new tranche of loans at the Eurogroup meeting on April 24. Some European officials expressed concerns that an agreement between Greece and its creditors will be signed this week.

The head of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem said today that he expects that Greece and its creditors will sign an agreement in the coming weeks. He added that a Greek exit could lead to "very dangerous instability" in the Eurozone.

"It's in the interests of Greece and the euro zone as a whole to avoid that," Dijsselbloem said.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is studying measures on Greek banks in return for emergency liquidity. The ECB staff have proposed to increase the haircuts on Greek bank collateral when borrowing from the Bank of Greece, people with knowledge of the situation said.

The proposal hasn't been discussed by the ECB Governing Council.

Indexes on the close:

Name Price Change Change %

FTSE 100 7,062.93 +10.80 +0.15 %

DAX 11,939.58 +47.67 +0.40 %

CAC 40 5,192.64 +5.05 +0.10 %