Downbeat Japanese economic news knocked top-flight shares off the rails on Wednesday.
The FTSE 100 Index slipped 17.15 points to 6327 while Frankfurt's Dax retreated 38 points and the Cac-40 in Paris fell 31 points.
The latest Japanese goods trade report was disappointing, with the value of exports declining for the third consecutive month in September and by 1.7% month-on-month, analysts said.
That left it up just 0.6% compared with a year earlier, the softest pace for more than a year and well below the expected gain of more than 3% year-on-year.
Chris Scicluna at Daiwa Capital Markets said: "However, some of the impact of this weakness in goods trade should again be offset by firmer services exports, most notably related to the surge in overseas visitors, with total arrivals in September up 47% year-on-year and the number from China double the level a year earlier."
In the UK, public finance figures for the month of September were due. Having increased significantly above expectations in August, public sector net borrowing is anticipated to have moderated slightly at the end of the third quarter to about £10bn excluding public-owned banks.
In the equity markets, Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail dropped 19.7p or 13% to 130p after profits at Argos almost halved in the six months to August 29, prompting it to warn on annual profits.
Nurofen and Strepsils maker Reckitt Benckiser was 139p healthier at 6283p as like-for-like revenue rose 7% in the third quarter and the group raised its full year LFL revenue target to 5%.
Satellite broadcaster Sky ticked up 33p to 1102p after operating profit rose 10% to £375mln on a 6% increase in group revenue to £2.8bn in the three months to September 30.
South African platinum miner Lonmin (LON:LMI) unveiled a US$400mln rights issue but said annual platinum sales topped hopes, lifting its shares by 0.25p to 29.25p.
Ortac Resources (LON:OTC) subsided 17.9% to 0.06p on news that it raised £400,000 through a placing to fund its development projects in Zambia and Eritrea.
MARKET PREVIEW
Early gains are expected for London’s blue chips despite a weak performance overnight in the US and some Asian markets.
Financial spread bet firms see the FTSE 100 Index adding around 30 points and reversing the seven point loss to 6,345.
The latest round of earnings updates is dominating US markets and disappointment with tech giant IBM’s (LON:IBM) latest report weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
IBM dropped almost 6% and pulled the Dow 14 points lower to 17,217, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 faced larger percentage falls.
Asian markets were more mixed with another day of strong gains for the Nikkei in Tokyo on hopes of more financial stimulus measures, while Hong Kong and Shanghai mirrored the US and eased lower.
Some big names report in the UK today as well, with Sky’s (LON:SKY) battle with BT (LON:BT.) over the line rental market likely to be the focus of attention in its interims. Revenues should be around £2.7bn.
Argos owner, Home Retail (LON:HOME), mining giant BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) and consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB.) also update.