Europe: Stock markets resume slide

[LONDON] European stock markets slid at the start of trading Thursday as volatility continued to dominate global equities trading.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 0.8 per cent to 7,219.19 points, with investors eyeing the Bank of England, which is Thursday set to keep its main interest rate at 0.5 per cent and also publish its latest UK growth and inflation forecasts.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 0.7 per cent to 12,506.18 points and the Paris CAC 40 lost 0.5 per cent to 5,229.78 compared with the closing levels on Wednesday.

After slumping in the region of 2.5 per cent on Tuesday, Europe's leading stock markets ended Wednesday's sessions with gains of between around 1.5 and 2.0 per cent.

AFP