LONDON: Europe's main stock markets fell on Monday, after earlier losses in Asia, with investors on edge before a key meeting of eurozone finance ministers grappling with the region's debt crisis.
In midday deals, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies slid 0.68 percent to stand at 5,831.05 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 1.26 percent to 7,304.41 points and in Paris the CAC 40 reversed 1.16 percent to 3,416.94.
In foreign exchange activity, the euro dipped to $1.2966 from $1.3031 late in New York on Monday.
"It's been a weak start from all of the major European indices, following an American market that tailed off badly on Friday," said analyst Alastair McCaig at trading group IG.
The eurozone launches its much-awaited 500-billion-euro ($650 billion) rescue fund on Monday, a positive backdrop for finance ministers trying to settle Greece's tortuous debt bailout and as Spain agonises over seeking a rescue.
Finance ministers of the 17-nation euro bloc gather just 10 days before the EU's 27 leaders meet in Brussels, with recent market calm giving them some breathing room after months of turmoil and anxiety over Spain's future.
The meeting will see the formal launch and inaugural board meeting of the European Stability Mechanism, a key step forward in the eurozone's defences against the debt crisis which has help push the bloc back into recession.
At the same time, the economic landscape is not encouraging, with recent data showing Europe back in recession and threatening to slip further into the doldrums.
EU officials on Friday said they do not expect Greece to get the green light, either in Luxembourg or at the October 18-19 Brussels summit, for the resumption of its drip-feed bailout after differences with its EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund creditors.
Asian stock markets meanwhile closed lower on Monday, hit by growth forecast downgrades from the World Bank and ongoing eurozone debt crisis fears.
Hong Kong fell 0.89 percent, Sydney lost 0.28 percent and Seoul shed 0.67 percent. Tokyo was closed for a public holiday.
The World Bank slashed its 2012 growth forecast for developing countries in East Asia and the Pacific to 7.2 percent, dragged down by China's worst economic performance in 13 years.
It said China's economy would grow just 7.7 percent this year, down from 9.3 percent in 2011 and its slowest rate since 1999, but added that stimulus measures would help push it back above the crucial 8.0 percent mark in 2013.
In the United States, Labor Department figures last Friday put the official US jobless rate at 7.8 percent in September, the lowest level since President Barack Obama took office in 2009.
The data from its establishment survey was less buoyant, showing a modest 114,000 net new jobs produced. But previous months were revised higher, underpinning the better showing in the September data.
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