European stocks slide amid focus on heavyweights

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — European equity prices dropped on Friday as oil and mining majors lost ground, but losses were limited by gains to banking share prices, traders said.

In late morning trade, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 0.51 percent to 5,846.80 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 index lost 0.46 percent to 6,684.16 points and the Paris CAC 40 index decreased by 0.72 percent to 4,638.48 nearing the half-way mark.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares shed 0.45 percent to 3,526.53 points.

The European single currency stood at 1.5327 dollars in foreign exchange trading.

US stocks held their gains in volatile trade Thursday after hefty losses a day earlier, as Yahoo said its talks with Microsoft on a potential takeover had been...