European equities slide in choppy trade

European stocks slid Thursday in choppy trade as investors eyed poor German data and recent oil price falls, on the eve of a speech by Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen.

In late morning deals, Frankfurt sank 1.0 percent, London lost 0.3 percent and Paris shed 0.8 percent in value. The European single currency however rose against the dollar.

"What we are seeing today is another example of what we’ve seen for the last week, choppy markets that are lacking any real direction due to a total lack of catalysts," Oanda analyst Craig Erlam told AFP.

"It's been a particularly quiet week for Europe on this front and combine this with the quiet summer period and the caution ahead of tomorrow’s Jackson Hole speech from Janet Yellen -- although this is a bigger event for US markets -- and it’s not entirely surprising that we’re currently caught in these choppy conditions."

Markets had been partly buoyed Wednesday by news that the German economy grew by a better-than-expected 0.4 percent in the second quarter.

However, German business confidence made a steeper fall in August than expected, slipping to its lowest level since December 2014, the Ifo economic institute revealed Thursday.

Its closely-watched index fell to 106.2 in August -- well below the 108.5 predicted by analysts surveyed by Factset -- from its July level of 108.3.

"This appears to be a delayed negative reaction to the UK referendum decision of 23 June to leave the European Union," noted IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer.

World markets have struggled to gain traction this week with few catalysts to spur business ahead of Yellen's talk on Friday at the annual Jackson Hole symposium of global central bankers.

Oil was hammered Wednesday on data showing a surprise jump in US stockpiles last week, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) shedding 2.8 percent and Brent down 1.8 percent.

WTI has now lost almost five percent since the end of last week while Brent has slipped 3.6 percent.

The losses come after a seven-day oil rally that saw it enter a bull market -- a 20 percent rise from recent lows -- on hopes for an output limit deal at a meeting next month between key producers including the OPEC cartel and Russia.

Comments to AFP from key OPEC member Iran that it had yet to take any decision on agreeing to a ceiling, or even on taking part in the meeting, also weighed on buying sentiment.

Bargain-buying helped both contracts make slender gains on Thursday.

- Key figures at 1045 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 6,814.4 points

Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 1.0 percent at 10,521

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.8 percent at 4,400.7

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.8 percent at 2,985.3

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 16,555.95 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,068.33 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 6.09 points at 22,826.87 (close)

New York - DOW: DOWN 0.4 percent at 18,481.48 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1292 from $1.1264 

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 100.41 yen from 100.45 yen Wednesday

Pound/dollar: UNCHANGED at $1.3232

New York - DOW: DOWN 0.4 percent at 18,481.48 (close)

Source: AFP