Europe gives up gains on wary sentiment Shares across Europe gave up early gains and moved into negative territory on Friday morning but most bourses still looked to finish the week in positive territory, despite continued fears of a Greek exit from the eurozone . The FTSE Eurofirst gained 0.4 per cent on Friday morning to 986.8 points before falling back to trade down 0.1 per cent as traders booked profits and looked to sell any gains. But the Eurofirst still stands to finish the week up more than 1 per cent with French and German indices leading the charge. Germany's Dax index gained 0.2 per cent to 6328 points in early trading after gaining 0.75 per cent in the week to Thursday, while France's Cax index shed 0.2 per cent on Friday to 3033.5 points to bring its weekly gain to just under 1 per cent. Both bourses were helped on Friday by unexpected rises in consumer confidence while rumours that Germany intends to promote a six-part growth plan for Europe also circulated. Germany's consumer confidence index held steady in May at 5.7 and is expected to perform similarly in June, according to Nuremberg-based research group GfK. France's consumer confidence index rose for a third consecutive month, to 90 in May from 89 in April. The solid consumer confidence data were welcomed by investors following poor purchasing managers" indices and German business confidence data released on Thursday. In France Carrefour was up 1.9 per cent to €14.47 on Friday. Germany's biggest winners were Siemens , which rose 1.9 per cent to €68.19 and Deutsche Post , which gained 2.4 per cent to €13.46. Dominic Edridge from UBS was upbeat about Deutsche Post following a presentation from management. The general tone was confident and encouragingly positive despite the uncertain economic situation. Although we note that risks remain: notably the economy and future developments in German mail regulation, we believe Deutsche Post's targets remain credible and achievable. If this is correct, the stock remains attractive," he argued. Italy's MIB index fell 0.1 per cent to 13,089.8 points on Friday while Spain's Ibex index dropped 0.6 per cent to 6496.5 points. Spanish markets were damped by news that Spain's Bankia had been suspended by its regulator CNMV "due to circumstances that may affect the normal share trading" and in advance of the part-nationalised bank's board meeting later on Friday. The part-nationalised caja is widely expected to request more than €15bn in state bailout funds following the meeting. Confidence in Spain's banking sector was shaken two weeks ago when the Spanish government removed Bankia's chairman, Rodrigo Rato, and converted €4.5bn of state loans into equity in its parent BFA, giving it about 45 per cent control of Bankia. On Wednesday, Spain's finance minister Luis De Guindos described Bankia as a "unique case" adding that the health of the country's financial sector "could not be extrapolated" from the fate of the struggling lender. Meanwhile, Greece's benchmark index continued its plunge on Friday as it fell 0.7 per cent to 499.3 points although both the National Bank of Greece , up 1.7 per cent to €1.23, and Alpha Bank , 1.2 per cent higher at €0.80, made gains.