(MENAFN- AFP) Weak eurozone and Chinese data weighed on European stock markets and the euro Thursday after the Federal Reserve warned of potential threats to US growth.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 0.64 percent to stand at 6,653.47 points approaching midday.
The CAC 40 in Paris slid 1.13 percent to 4,218.02 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 lost 0.64 percent to 9,411.80 compared with Wednesday's closing level, when Europe's top indices had ended on a steady note.
In Thursday trade, the European single currency dropped to $1.2523 from $1.2551 late in New York on Wednesday.
"Rather unsurprisingly it is PMI data from the eurozone that has left a dampener on equities," said Will Hedden, analyst at IG traders.
The FTSE's miners were meanwhile weighed down by Chinese numbers, he added. Shares in Anglo American dropped 2.72 percent to 1,287 pence and Rio Tinto lost 2.66 percent to 2,863 pence.
Growth in the eurozone has slowed to its slowest pace in 16 months as new orders dipped, survey company Markit said Thursday, raising pressure on policymakers to crank up measures to support the economy.
Markit's flash November reading of its composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the eurozone came in at 51.4 points, down from 52.1 in October.
While manufacturing ticked up slightly, growth in the service sector slowed to its weakest reading since last December, said Markit.
Meanwhile preliminary figures from British banking giant HSBC indicated manufacturing activity in China was stagnant in November. Its PMI came in at 50.
Anything above that points to growth, and a figure below suggests contraction.
Asian markets traded mixed on Thursday after the latest round of weak manufacturing data underlined the slowdown in China's economy, while minutes from the US Federal Reserve's latest meeting gave few hints about its plans for interest rates.
Further losses in the yen to multi-year lows against the dollar and euro were not enough to give a strong boost Tokyo's Nikkei after this week's surprise news that Japan had slipped into recession.
Traders were given a tepid lead from Wall Street. Federal Reserve policymakers saw a potential threat to US growth from the global slowdown and a possible decrease in inflation in their last meeting, according to minutes of their last meeting published on Wednesday.
But they also said the sharp fall in oil prices would likely bring relief to American households and boost overall consumption, supporting the economy.
Elsewhere on Thursday, the euro eased to 80.01 British pence from 80.03 late on Wednesday in New York. The British pound dropped to $1.5653 from $1.5681.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold fell to $1,193.89 an ounce from $1,196 late on Wednesday.
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