(MENAFN- AFP) European stock markets slid mid-session Thursday, chipping away at the previous day's recovery, while the dollar hit a two-year high against the euro.
London's FTSE 100 benchmark index eased 0.65 percent to stand at 6,662.90 points, with miner Anglo American among the biggest fallers with a loss of 3.83 percent to 1,405 pence.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 index fell 0.80 percent to 9,584.59 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gave up 0.70 percent to 4,382.74.
Early trade in the US saw the Dow index slip 0.56 percent to 17,114.31 points on mixed economic pointers. Apple lost more than 2 percent as news spread of bugs in a new version of its iOS 8 operating system for iPhones and iPads, and viral criticism that its hot-selling iPhone 6 was prone to its frame bending.
European equities had rebounded on Wednesday on hopes that the European Central Bank (ECB) would step up its stimulus measures, dealers said. They had tumbled on Tuesday on data revealing a sharp slowdown for business activity in the eurozone.
"Despite the US economy powering ahead and the ECB having undertaken plenty of measures to support growth and are likely to provide further stimulus in the months ahead not everybody is convinced that this will be enough," noted Markus Huber, senior trader at Peregrine & Black brokers.
"Instead calls are getting louder for a substantial increase in public spending and much more rigid structural reforms especially in countries like Italy and France whose economies are struggling the most," he added in a note to clients.
In foreign exchange trading on Thursday, the euro hit $1.2697 in early London deals to reach the lowest level since November 2012. It later pulled back to $1.2724, down from $1.2781 late in New York on Wednesday.
The single currency slid also versus the British pound to 77.94 pence, down from 78.20 on Wednesday and close to its lowest point since July 2012.
The pound fell to $1.6325 from $1.6342.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold hit a 2014-low at $1,206.83 an ounce. It ended morning trade at $1,210.50 an ounce, down from $1,217.25 on Wednesday.
The stronger dollar made metals more expensive, weighing on commodity and miners' share prices, traders said.
Britain meanwhile on Thursday said new powers to punish rigging of Libor interest rates with criminal sanctions should be extended for seven major benchmarks, drawing in oil, gold and currency markets.
The government, working alongside the Bank of England and Britain's financial regulators, said it intends to have the new regime for the designated benchmarks in place by the end of the year.
"Ensuring that the key rates that underpin financial markets are robust, and that anyone who seeks to manipulate them is subject to the full force of the law is vital," Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrea Leadsom said in a statement.
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