European stocks slide further on China concerns

Europe's main stock markets slid further on Friday, still reeling from weak Chinese data, as traders kept an eye on the Davos gathering of political leaders, central bankers and CEOs. London's FTSE 100 index of top companies dropped 0.59 percent to stand at 6,733.30 points in late morning deals. Frankfurt's DAX 30 index slid 0.71 percent to 9,562.57 points and in Paris the CAC 40 index dropped 0.92 percent at 4,241.65 compared with Thursday's closing levels. Madrid's IBEX 35 slumped 2.66 percent and Milan's MIB index shed 1.51 percent. "The UK has continued its slide this morning, with the FTSE again suffering an Asian hangover amid concerns about Chinese growth and a rout on emerging markets that continues to build speed," said Toby Morris, senior trader at CMC Markets. Asian stock markets slid on Friday, extending the previous day's losses after disappointment on Wall Street over data showing the first fall in Chinese manufacturing activity in six months. Japan's Nikkei share index suffered another bruising day on Friday after the yen rallied against the dollar in New York as investors looked for safer investments. Tokyo's main shares index tumbled 1.94 percent, Sydney fell 0.42 percent and Seoul lost 0.36 percent. In foreign exchange activity, the European single currency fell to $1.3672 from $1.3695 in New York late on Thursday, The euro dipped to 82.27 British pence from 82.31 pence on Thursday, while the pound dropped to $1.6618 from $1.6638. The ruble fell to a five-year low point against the euro, and the Turkish lira fell further against the dollar. Gold prices eased to $1,259.25 an ounce from $1,263 Thursday on the London Bullion Market. "The World Economic Forum in Davos will continue today so there’ll probably be a lot of noise coming from that which can sometimes have an impact on the markets," noted Craig Erlam, market analyst at Alpari traders. The head of Japan's central bank told the forum on Friday that fears of economic instability owing to the slowing of massive monetary stimulus policies are unwarranted, amid accusations that the easy money has won only a timid recovery. "Normalisation from unconventional policy means success in the policy," said Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan at a World Economic Forum panel. Some economists argue that the growth generated by monetary stimulus privileges the financial markets. "Recovery has certainly not been everything we hoped it would be," said Lawrence Summers, the former US Treasury Secretary now at Harvard University. Growth "has only been sufficient to keep up with population growth and normal productivity" and failed to spread to the real economy, he said.