LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - European shares, stuck just below 21-month highs for more than a week, fought for direction in early deals on Wednesday as weakness in mining and autos sectors were offset by strength in oil producers.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX index edged up 0.1 percent, underpinned by a rise in European oil & gas stocks .SXEP . Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE rose 0.1 percent while Germany's DAX .GDAXI fell 0.3 percent as firms going ex-dividend weighed.
European auto stocks .SXAP were among the biggest sectoral fallers, down 0.9 percent and led lower by a 2 percent drop in Fiat Chrysler's FCHA.MI shares.
The U.S. government has sued the Italian carmaker, accusing Fiat of illegally using software to bypass emission controls in 104,000 diesel vehicles sold since 2014. were another weak spot in Europe with the basic resources index .SXPP declining more than 1 percent following a dip in the copper price weighed. MET/L
Mining giant Glencore GLEN.L was also 1.6 percent lower after it said that it had made an informal approach to U.S. grains trader Bunge BG.N to discuss "a possible consensual business combination". also weighed on British retailer Kingfisher KGF.L , which dropped 6.3 percent and was the biggest STOXX loser after a trading update, while engineer Babcock BAB.L also fell 2.7 percent after its full-year results. firms Hugo Boss BOSSn.DE and Evonik EVKn.DE both fell after going ex-dividend.
On the positive side, a well-received set of fourth-quarter results from Dixons Carphone DC.L lifted its shares 3 percent higher, while Britvic 's BVIC.L first-half update also boosted its shares.
Shares in aerospace groups Safran SAF.PA and Zodiac ZODC.PA , whose merger plans have been criticized by some investors, were suspended on Wednesday.