European markets wobble amid US Thanksgiving holiday

Europe's major stock markets wobbled on Thursday, after a downbeat session in Asia and with US investors absent for Thanksgiving.

"European markets have had a little wobble this morning as they look forward to a day without their US cousins," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG (Frankfurt: A0EARV - news) .

"The drying up of (trading) volumes over the past 24 hours prompted mini-routs in the FTSE and the DAX, but these seem to have run their course with both indices moving off their lows."

Frankfurt, London and Paris began the day with opening losses and diverged within a narrow band as the morning progressed.

German investor sentiment was subdued by ongoing political uncertainty following last weekend's inconclusive elections.

London was burnt by domestic energy supplier Centrica (Frankfurt: A0DK6K - news) issuing a gloomy profits warning that sent its share price diving almost 18 percent to 134.30 pence.

Investors meanwhile shrugged off confirmation that Britain's economy grew 0.4 percent in the third quarter, one day after the UK government slashed its annual GDP forecasts up until 2021.

Asian equities were mostly deflated on Thursday with Tokyo shut also for a public holiday.

Wall Street provided a mixed lead with the Nasdaq (Frankfurt: 813516 - news) hitting another record-high and the Dow and S&P 500 dipping Wednesday.

The dollar struggled Thursday following the previous day's losses as dovish Federal Reserve minutes rowed back expectations for US interest rate hikes.

While board members at the US central bank will likely lift borrowing costs next month, official records of their October meeting indicate some are increasingly concerned about persistently low inflation as well as high equity prices.

The release of the minutes came after data showing a surprise drop in key durable goods orders, fuelling a sell-off in the greenback across the board.

Expectations that rates would be lifted several times next year -- partly through an improving economy and flagged tax cuts -- helped drive the dollar up over the past year.

- Key figures around 1030 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,402.57 points

Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.1 percent at 12,996.70

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 5,368.90

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.1 percent at 3,564.45

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 1.0 percent at 29,707.94 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.3 percent at 3,351.92 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a public holiday

New York - DOW: DOWN 0.3 percent at 23,526.18 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1844 from $1.1824 at 2200 GMT

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3306 from $1.3329

Dollar/yen: UP at 111.24 yen from 111.18 yen

Oil - Brent North Sea: DOWN 35 cents at $62.97 per barrel

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 16 cents at $57.86