European stocks close

European stocks closed unchanged from yesterday’s level, erasing intraday gains, as companies from Debenhams Plc to Syngenta AG and Nokia Oyj reported financial results.

Stocks erased gains after U.S. economic data missed estimates. A release showed the Conference Board’s index of leading indicators unexpectedly dropped 0.1 percent in March. Economists had forecast a 0.1 percent gain.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index fell to 1.3 in April from 2 in March. Readings greater than zero mean manufacturing expanded in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. The median forecast in a survey had called for a reading of 3.

National benchmark indexes fell in 12 of the 18 western European markets. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and France’s CAC 40 Index were little changed and Germany’s DAX Index slid 0.4 percent.

Syngenta climbed 3 percent to 389.60 Swiss francs after the world’s largest maker of crop chemicals reported a 6 percent increase in first-quarter sales to to $4.60 billion, buoyed by Brazilian operations that helped offset weaker demand for seeds and crop chemicals in parts of Europe. That met the $4.57 billion average analyst estimate in a survey.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc rallied 3.2 percent to 1,658 pence, the highest price since April 2002, after advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that experimental treatment Breo Ellipta be approved to treat a lung disorder.

Sodexo tumbled 9.6 percent to 64.03 euros, the largest drop since November 2007. The second-biggest provider of catering services cut its annual profit-growth forecast after first-half results missed projections. The company expects “stable” earnings before interest and taxes compared with last year, after saying in January it expected “modest” profit growth.