June 22, 2006	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1427

LONDON, June 21:European stock markets slid on Wednesday owing to downbeat earnings news from the retail sector, following subdued trading on Wall Street and in Tokyo, dealers said.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares lost 0.34 per cent to 5,639.00 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index fell 0.75 per cent to 5,452.26 points and in Paris the CAC 40 dropped 0.57 per cent to 4,743.33.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares declined 0.38 per cent to 3,501.63 points.

The euro stood at 1.2612 dollars.

US shares had closed mixed on Tuesday after a positive report on the US housing market was offset by jitters about a possible missile test by North Korea.

Japanese share prices were little changed Wednesday after rallying to come off sharp early losses as the market fretted about possible interest rate hikes both at home and in the United States.

Ahead of next week's US Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates, dealers are concerned that in its fight against inflation, the central bank will lift rates too high and choke off economic and profit growth.

In London deals on Wednesday, shares in pan-European electrical retailer DSG International dived by 3.62 percent to 186.25 pence.

That followed news of a 9.0-percent fall in annual pre-tax profits to 302.9 million pounds, despite a boost from sales of flat-screen televisions ahead of the World Cup.

J Sainsbury, the third-biggest biggest British supermarket chain, saw its shares sink 1.24 per cent to 319 pence after a better-than expected first-quarter sales update prompted investors to cash in recent gains.

Across in Amsterdam, the share price of Dutch retail giant Ahold fell by 0.91 per cent to 6.52 euros as its first-quarter earnings beat expectations -- but dealers said the underlying performance was mixed.

The Dutch capital's AEX shares index, on which Ahold trades, slipped 0.46 percent to 423.24 points.

Back on Wall Street on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.30 per cent to close at 10,974.84 after moving up as much as 87 points during the session.

But the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.16 per cent to 2,107.06 and the broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index was essentially flat at 1,240.12 points.—AFP