London shares fell in early Thursday trading as Asian economic data disappointed global markets.
The FTSE 100 Index dropped 34.54 points to 6194 while the Dax in Frankfurt dipped 9.25 points and the CAC-40 in Paris backtracked 18.39 points.
Core machinery orders in Japan declined for a second straight month, which analysts said showed a shortage of capital investment among companies.
Craig Erlam at foreign exchange firm OANDA said: "We were expecting a decent rebound following last month’s sharp 7.9% decline but instead we got another substantial drop."
Meanwhile, Chinese producer prices fell by a bigger-than-expected 5.9%, which Erlam said increased the risk of the economy experiencing deflation further down the road.
In the UK, the Bank of England is expected to keep British interest rates on hold but economists are likely to look for indications about the timing of an eventual rise.
Much worse than expected UK production data on Wednesday fuelled a growing belief among economists that a rate rise this year is unlikely.
In a busy morning for corporate news, electrical retailer Dixons Carphone (LON:DC.) sparked 9.4p to 429.3p as it reported a strong start to the year.
Fashion retailer Next (LON:NXT) gained 140p to 7815p on news of higher first-half profits.
Supermarket chain Morrisons (LON:MRW) lost 7.7p to 168.2p as new chief executive David Potts said its turnaround would take time.
Hurricane Energy (LON:HUR) spurted 0.25p to 15.25p after the North Sea oil & gas company said its Lancaster find west of Shetland had received oil field status.