LONDON: Festering worries over global economic growth and low oil prices sent fresh jitters through stock markets which marked time on Thursday.
Investors also remain anxious over the impact of a widely-expected interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve on December 16, dealers said, while the Bank of England left its borrowing costs unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent.
"Global growth concerns, weak commodity prices and the imminent prospect of a Federal Reserve rate hike are all headwinds for the equity market," said Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor.
"While we may see some slight respite for markets as investors start to the view the market as oversold, sentiment remains fragile and we're unlikely to see any significant push higher until we get beyond the Federal Reserve decision next week," she told AFP.
European equities slid, after losses overnight on Wall Street and earlier in Asia, as investors grappled with low oil prices that sit close to seven-year lows.
Wall Street had sunk on Wednesday as falling commodity prices, along with a surprise rally in the euro, spooked investors. The nerves then spilled over into Asia.
"Both US and Asian stocks dipped ... as global growth worries and a slide in oil prices weighed on markets," said analyst David Papier at trading firm ETX Capital.
After the BoE announcement, London shares were off 0.5 percent, but Frankfurt moved 0.4 percent ahead and Paris was up 0.1 percent.
London losses were limited by a surge in Swiss-based mining giant Glencore.
Glencore, the world's largest mining company, issued a solid investor update, widening its debt-trimming plan in an effort to cope with the worst commodities downturn in seven years.
Glencore said it wanted to get debt between $18-$19 billion (16.4-17.3 billion euros) by the end of next year, after previously announcing a target of $20 billion.
Spending projections have also been cut back, with $3.8 billion allocated for investments in 2016, down from an earlier estimate of $5 billion.
In reaction, Glencore soared 10.91 percent to 92.14 pence in early morning deals before dipping to 7.8 percent ahead mid-afternoon.
"The plan to reduce its net debt ... appears to be sitting well with investors this morning," said analyst Brenda Kelly at London Capital Group.
"The company is also mulling a possible flotation of its agriculture business."
Oil prices meanwhile held steady in stable trade, although the market has shed around nine percent since the OPEC cartel decided last Friday against cutting output despite a global glut and weak demand.
US stocks rose in earlyt treading following three straight days of declines prompted by plunging oil and commodities prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,538.73, up 0.27 percent while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.31 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.37 percent.
In Asian stock market deals, Tokyo's Nikkei index slipped 1.3 percent, Sydney shed 0.8 percent and Hong Kong lost 0.5 percent in value.
The falls followed a sell-off on Wall Street that saw all three indexes end in the red.
- Key figures around 1500 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 6,099AFP
Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.4 percent at 10,631
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 4,640
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,274
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.3 percent at 19,046.55 (close)
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 17,492.30 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN to $1.0956 from $1.1026 late in New York on Wednesday
Dollar/yen: DOWN to 121.64 yen from 121.40 yen
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.