European shares ended a five-day winning streak today to ease into negative territory amid fears problems in the subprime market and the credit squeeze could hamper global growth.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index slipped 0.5 per cent to 1,502.3. Germany's Xetra Dax fell 0.6 per cent to 7,470, while in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.3 per cent to 5,506.6. At 11.30am, the Dublin market was down 0.80 per cent at 8,282.
Market sentiment was hurt by downbeat comment from the chief executive of Countrywide, the ailing US mortgage lender. Angelo Mozilo warned the downturn in the US housing market could tip the nation's economy into a recession.
Weakness in heavily weighted financial names dragged the indices lower. BNP Paribas fell 1.2 per cent to €77.5, Société Générale slipped 1.2 per cent to €118.2, and Germany's Allianz edged 1.2 per cent lower to €157.3.