European stocks extend losses

LONDON, July 3, 2009 (AFP) - Europe's main stock markets weakened further on Friday after sliding a day earlier on news of greater-than-expected job losses in the United States.

In late morning trading, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares dropped 0.25 percent to 4,223.88 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 declined 0.36 percent to 4,701.29 points and the Paris CAC 40 shed 0.49 percent to 3,101.28 points nearing the half-way stage.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares slid 0.33 percent to 2,361.83 points.

On the foreign exchange market, the European single currency fell to 1.3988 dollars.

"There's a 'morning after the day before' feeling in the UK stock market today, still reeling after yesterday's surprise jump in US unemployment," said IG Index chief market strategist David Jones.

"With the Americans off on holiday celebrating Independence Day, we are probably facing a directionless day."

Wall Street had also slumped on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 2.63 percent. New York stock markets were closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday weekend.

Japanese share prices ended down 0.61 percent on Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, dealers said.

"Overly optimistic views on the economy are disappearing," Mizuho Securities analyst Yutaka Miura told Dow Jones Newswires.

In Europe, investors also digested data that showed retailers in the 16 nations using the euro saw their sales fall in May, renewing a slump that was broken in April by a short-lived improvement.

The volume of retail sales in the eurozone dipped 0.4 percent in May over one month and 3.3 percent over one year, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said on Friday.

The European Central Bank had on Thursday kept its main interest rate steady at a record low of 1.0 percent, as ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet downplayed a threat of deflation gutting the eurozone.

Economists are concerned the 16-nation bloc's economy will struggle to recover from recession if consumer prices fall broadly over a sustained period.

Meanwhile in London on Friday, the media sector rose strongly after a broker upgrade. Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier jumped 3.13 percent to 453.75 pence and advertising giant WPP gained 1.30 percent to 389.5 pence.

"An investment bank upgrade on the media sector is thought to be the reason behind the move," said analyst Jones.