LONDON (TheDeal) -- Continental European markets were flat or worse this morning, as continued worries over Greece and the possible impact of a default on its payments to the International Monetary Fund next month depressed sentiment. You might not know it from the gravity-defying feats of the Athens General Index, which was in positive territory again this morning, but Greece's cost of borrowing is now approaching a record high of 27%. But in London, the FTSE 100 was proudly bucking the trend, rising over 0.09% to 7,066.84 after the release of figures showing U.K. unemployment fell to its lowest level since July 2008 in February. The jobless rate was down to 5.6%, while weekly wages rose 1.7% compared with a year ago -- yet Britain still recorded 0% inflation. Meanwhile both IMF managing director Christine Lagarde and German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble last night praised the U.K. government's handling of the economy. The government was very happy to get such support, just three weeks before a general election in which the economy is an issue. Must Read: Warren Buffett's Top 10 Stock Buys In Frankfurt, the DAX was down 0.46% to 11.943.53, while in Paris the CAC 40 was down 0.38% to 5,204.42. The Athens General Index was up 0.42% at 755.55. Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings flew up 1.4% to 993.5 pence, on the announcement of a $9.2 billion order from Middle Eastern airline Emirates. The 900 engine order was the British company's largest in its history so far. Ryanair Holdings lost a little altitude this morning as a British competition tribunal provisionally upheld an earlier ruling that the budget airline must cut its 29.8% stake in Irish rival Aer Lingus to 5%, denying Ryanair's claim that circumstances had changed in the past 18 months. Ryanair fell 1% to €11.09, while Aer Lingus gained 0.74% to €2.35. But International Consolidated Airlines , which owns British Airways and Spain's Iberia and wants to buy Aer Lingus, also lost 0.09%, falling to 571.5 pence. In Germany, carmaker Volkswagen rose 1.28% to €240.7 a share, after announcing strong global sales in March. But it warned that for 2015 as a whole such performance was not guaranteed. While associated marks Audi, Porsche, Seat and Skoda were all up, VW's own-brand auto sales were down and the future was looking particularly difficult in its biggest market, China. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.17% to 19,652.88, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was down 0.31% at 27,653.12. China's Shanghai Composite closed up 2.2% at 4,287.30. Must Read: Not Every Company Is Getting Hurt by the Strong U.S. Dollar
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