- Joe Root: England's elegant Test record-breaker
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Hezbollah strikes Israel, says it foiled Israeli incursions
- Jurgen Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Record-breaking Root guides England to 232-2 in reply to Pakistan's 556
- Japan PM dissolves parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- Goodbye Tito? Tomb at risk as Serbs argue over Yugoslav legacy
- Restoration experts piece together silent Sherlock Holmes mystery
- Sinner avoids Shanghai deja vu with assured Shelton win
- Pyongyang to 'permanently' shut border with South Korea
- Trumpet star Marsalis says jazz creates 'balance' in divided world
- No children left on Greece's famed but emptying island
- Nepali becomes youngest to climb world's 8,000m peaks
- Climate change made deadly Hurricane Helene more intense: study
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Padres edge Dodgers, Mets on the brink
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- With EU funding, Tunisian farmer revives parched village
- Sega ninja game 'Shinobi' gets movie treatment
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- Three million UK children living below poverty line: study
- China's Jia brings film spanning love, change over decades to Busan
- Paying out disaster relief before climate catastrophe strikes
- Chinese shares drop on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- SE Asian summit seeks progress on Myanmar civil war
- How climate funds helped Peru's women beekeepers stay afloat
- Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded as wars rage
- Pacific island nations swamped by global drug trade
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- Mozambique elects new president in tense vote
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Balkan summit to rally support for struggling Ukraine
- New stadium gives Real Madrid a headache
- Alonso, Manaea shine as 'Miracle Mets' blitz Phillies
- Harris, Trump trade blows in US election media blitz
- Harry's Bar in Paris drinks to US straw-poll centenary
- Osama bin Laden's son Omar banned from returning to France
- Afghan man arrested for plotting US election day attack
- Brazil lifts ban on Musk's X, ending standoff over disinformation
- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
European stock markets falter
European stock markets faltered Thursday following mixed showings by Asia and on Wall Street, as traders reacted to US Federal Reserve signals that it plans only one interest-rate cut this year.
Paris and Frankfurt were the biggest fallers, shedding more than one percent nearing the half-way stage, with investors continuing to track fallout from shock European Union elections at the weekend.
Oil prices were down nearly one percent, while the euro and pound steadied versus the dollar.
The European single currency has recovered from sharp losses in recent sessions, after French President Emmanuel Macron said he would not resign should his party lose a snap elections he called after its defeat to the far right in EU-wide polls.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve left its key lending rate unchanged on Wednesday and pencilled in just one rate cut this year, down from the three expected in March.
Despite US annual inflation dipping to 3.3 percent last month, the fall was below expectations, while the consumer price index remains a fair bit above the Fed's two-percent target.
"Fed chair Jerome Powell didn't give a huge amount away, although it felt telling that he was fairly cautious about the cooler-than-expected inflation figures from earlier in the day," noted AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
"The central bank is clear that it wants further signs inflation is on the path to the magic two-percent level before it is prepared to start cutting rates. One major sticking point being the continued tight labour market conditions."
Investors were also keeping an eye on the yen as the Bank of Japan started a two-day policy meeting, with speculation swirling that it is preparing the ground for a further tightening after lifting interest rates in March for the first time in 17 years.
Japan has been an outlier in recent years, deciding against raising interest rates to fight high inflation. And just as major central banks are looking to cut borrowing costs, the BoJ has decided to start hiking.
- Key figures around 1100 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 8,174.59 points
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.4 percent at 7,758.67
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.1 percent at 18,424.88
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.1 percent at 4,981.29
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 38,720.47 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.0 percent at 18,112.63 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,028.92 (close)
New York - Dow Jones: DOWN 0.1 percent at 38,712.21 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0800 from $1.0811 on Wednesday
Euro/pound: UP at 84.53 pence from 84.45 pence
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2777 from $1.2797
Dollar/yen: UP at 157.18 yen from 156.86 yen
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $77.86 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.8 percent at $81.94 per barrel
burs-bcp/rfj/lth
X.Karnes--AMWN