European equities slip before US payrolls data

European stock markets fell on Friday, mirroring losses elsewhere, as traders shrugged off monetary stimulus measures in Europe and China, and worried over looming data in the United States. London's benchmark FTSE 100 slid 0.04 percent to 5,690.10 points in late morning trade, Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 0.24 percent to 6,519.30 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.31 percent to 3,219.35 points. In foreign exchange deals, the European single currency retreated to $1.2377, compared with $1.2391 late on Thursday in New York. European equities had diverged Thursday after the European Central Bank (ECB) cut its main interest rate to a record low at 0.75 percent but did not announce additional stimulus moves. In London, the Bank of England (BoE) maintained its main rate at a record low of 0.50 percent and announced £50 billion ($78 billion, 62 billion euros) in extra stimulus cash to boost Britain's recession-hit economy. And China's central bank trimmed rates for the second time in a month, a surprise move which analysts said may indicate that the Chinese economy, the world's second biggest, is slowing more quickly than expected. "The reaction to yesterday's monetary stimulus from the ECB, BoE and PBOC has failed to prompt further market gains and this is a worrying sign," said economist Neil MacKinnon at VTB Capital. "It may be that the markets think non-conventional monetary policy is becoming increasingly ineffective and that the problem of a 'liquidity trap' has not been resolved." Cautious investors were awaiting the June US labour report for signs about the state of the world's largest economy, and whether it would prompt the US Federal Reserve to step in with fresh easing measures. Asian markets mostly sank on Friday as the central bank attempts to stimulate the global economy failed to reassure wary investors. Hong Kong edged down 0.04 percent, Tokyo shed 0.65 percent, Seoul ended 0.92 percent lower and Sydney lost 0.27 percent. Shanghai bucked the trend to close up 1.01 percent, with property stocks leading the rise following the rate move. The slide came as International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde warned the global economy was slowing and said the situation could get worse because Europe was not doing enough to fix its debt crisis. "Despite a wave of stimulus measures announced overnight by various central banks, it seems such policies are having a muted effect on investor sentiment," agreed IG Markets analyst Cameron Peacock. Lagarde, meanwhile, hailed the ECB move and other recent "significant steps" to contain the eurozone crisis but warned that "more needs to be done in order to really complete the architectural job of the eurozone". Markets were disappointed that the widely expected ECB move was not accompanied by additional measures to combat the long-running eurozone crisis. In Wall Street trade on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.36 percent after US data highlighted weakness in consumer spending.