Europe Roundup: Shares fall

LONDON: European shares fell yesterday, erasing earlier gains after an unexpected contraction in UK manufacturing, along with weak numbers from China and impending US budget cuts, stoked worries about the global economy.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.7 per cent at 1,163.40 points by 1057GMT, after a jittery start darting either side of the no-change line.

The EuroSTOXX 50 eurozone blue- chip index was down 1.0 per cent, while London's FTSE 100 - which tends to be relatively resilient to British data given the global focus of many of its constituents - fell 0.3 per cent.

Milan's FTSE MIB was the worst performer among the main regional bourses, down 1.5 per cent. Reuters