(MENAFN- AFP) Gloal stocks and the dollar slid Thursday after the US Federal Reserve held interest rates and indicated it would take a slow, measured approach to any hikes.
Markets also digested a barrage of company results, including from Britain's Lloyds Banking Group, Rolls-Royce and Royal Dutch Shell, as well as France's Carrefour, BNP Paribas and Renault, and Germany's troubled Volkswagen.
In mid afternoon trading, London drifted 0.1 percent lower, while in the eurozone, Frankfurt was 0.03 percent off and Paris lost 0.2 percent in value.
Tokyo led most Asian markets lower on worries over the size of the Bank of Japan's expected stimulus announcement due Friday.
In London foreign exchange deals, the European single currency jumped to a near two-week dollar high at $1.1119, before settling back mid afternoon to $1.1100.
- Greenback under pressure -
"The US dollar is sliding today despite some slightly hawkish shifts in the monetary policy statement last night, as the market was likely expecting more to suggest that a rate rise was imminent," said analyst David Cheetham at London brokerage XTB.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held borrowing costs but noted the world's top economy had improved and expressed less fear about the impact of Britain's EU exit decision.
The meeting followed a string of positive readings -- particularly on jobs growth and key consumer spending -- that has fanned speculation of a tightening in monetary policy despite weakness in most other global economies.
However Oanda's Craig Erlam said he believed the Fed's "statement itself contained some positive language that appears to have been overlooked by the market."
In Frankfurt, Volkswagen shares went into reverse, dropping 2.5 percent, after the scandal-struck German carmaker said second-quarter profits dived 57 percent.
Earnings were weighed down by almost 2.5 billion euros of special items, mostly related to 2015's diesel emissions cheating scandal.
In Paris, Carrefour topped the fallers board, shedding 4.7 percent.
The French supermarket giant said half-year net profits tumbled 40 percent hit by low fuel prices, currency fluctuations and restructuring costs.
Auto manufacturer Renault slid more than 3 percent, despite posting a record first-half net profit on strong sales of new cars.
The group cautioned however that it was "much too early" to say what the impact of Brexit would be on the company.
- Lloyds bank axes jobs -
London's top faller was Lloyds Banking Group, which announced it will axe another 3,000 jobs by 2017, and partly blamed the low interest rate environment.
Royal Dutch Shell also suffered after revealing that net profit collapsed in the second quarter on low oil prices, weak refining margins and production outages.
On the upside, shares in Rolls-Royce rocketed more than 14 percent to 835.50 pence.
Adjusted pre-tax profit tumbled almost 80 percent to £104 million in the first half on weak demand at its civil aerospace and marine divisions. However, that beat forecasts for a loss of £19 million.
"The reason behind the surge in price seems odd on first viewing ... but this is a classic example of low expectations being exceeded and causing a stock to rally," added Cheetham.
The strong yen sent Japan's Nikkei tumbling as the country's central bank began its own two-day policy meeting. Traders are worried the bank will not deliver Friday a big enough stimulus to kickstart the world's number three economy.
The Japanese government's announcement Wednesday of a 28 trillion yen stimulus -- without releasing details -- was unable to provide much excitement in Tokyo, where the Nikkei index ended 1.1 percent lower.
- Key figures around 1340 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 6,740.81 points
Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.03 percent at 10,316.94
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 4,437.75
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.6 percent at 2,981.54
New York - DOW: DOWN 0.3 percent at 18,419.71
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 16,476.84 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.2 percent at 22,174.34 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 2,994.32 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1100 from $1.1062
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3149 from $1.3224
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 104.79 yen from 105.31 yen
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