Thursday May 8, 11:57 AM
European stock markets lower before rate calls
LONDON (AFP) - Europe's main stock markets declined Thursday ahead of interest-rate decisions in Britain and the eurozone and after losses in Asia and on Wall Street overnight as sentiment was hit by record-high oil prices, dealers said.
In late morning trade, London's FTSE 100 index of top companies was down 0.18 percent to 6,249.60 points.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 (Xetra: news) dropped 0.41 percent to 7,047.16 points and in Paris the CAC 40 (Paris: news) shed 0.27 percent to 5,061.47 near the half-way mark.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares fell 0.47 percent to 3,853.50 points.
The European single currency stood at 1.5352 dollars.
Investors were gearing up for rate decisions in the eurozone and Britain, with the European Central Bank and Bank of England both expected to keep borrowing costs unchanged.
"The market is down on the back of falls on Wall Street last night and most investors (were) waiting for the Bank of England interest rate decision at midday (1100 GMT)," said Mark Foulds, head of spreadbetting sales at Tradindex.
Wall Street stocks tumbled Wednesday as crude oil prices soared to fresh record peaks above 123 dollars, sparking fresh jitters about inflationary pressures, dealers said.
Rising oil prices could hamper US economic growth by pressuring consumers and the profit margins of trucking firms, airlines and other companies that are heavily reliant on oil.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average of blue chips closed down 1.59 percent at 12,814.35 points on Wednesday as the Dow slipped back under 13,000 points.
The technology-laden Nasdaq composite (NASDAQ: news) lost 1.80 percent at 2,438.49 points and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 1.81 percent at 1,392.57.
Japanese share prices on Thursday fell back from a near four-month high as the Nikkei (news) -225 index slumped 1.13 percent to 13,943.26 points.
Hong Kong's key Hang Seng Index closed down 0.63 percent at 25,449.79 points, hit also by falls in Chinese mainland stocks on fears that Beijing may slow the pace of the yuan's appreciation, dealers said.
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