STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-FTSE AIM, small caps close down 0.5 pct

The FTSE small cap index and junior-listed AIM shares fall 0.5 percent, outperforming the 1.0 percent drop on the blue chips.

North River Resources climbs 12.5 percent after announcing a substantial resource upgrade at its Namib Lead Zinc Silver project in Namibia.

Moss Bros (LSE: MOSB.L - news) rises 2.2 percent to 71.2 pence after the men's formal wear specialist says like-for-like sales for the first 19 weeks of the second half were up 5.3 percent on last year, and reaffirms confidence in the full year outlook.

"Backed by a very strong net cash position and back on the dividend list, we see further scope for our forecasts to be raised as the strategy progresses. We maintain our 'buy' recommendation and 85 pence share price target," WH Ireland analyst John Cummins says in a note.

Reuters messaging rm://tricia.wright1.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net