Global stocks retrench after gains

European and Wall Street stocks struggled trying to hold on to recent gains Friday as soft data from the US, China and the eurozone made current levels hard to defend. London, Frankfurt and Paris were all in mildly negative territory in the European afternoon, but surprisingly upbeat news on German economic growth put a floor under profit-taking. Stocks in New York came off to a weaker start after US consumer spending data for July were flat, suggesting a key driver of the world's largest econom