LONDON, May 24: Europe's main stock markets fell on Thursday, with global investors rattled after former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan warned of a possible “dramatic contraction” in Chinese share prices.

The FTSE 100 opened lower ... falling in line with declining global stocks after a warning from Greenspan who said that surging Chinese shares could see a major correction, said Michael Davies, an analyst at the Sucden brokerage in London.

The Paris-based Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development also warned Thursday that China's stock markets ran the risk of “a marked correction.”In late morning trade on Thursday, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 0.27 per cent to 6,598.80 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 sank 0.32 per cent to 7,711.02 points and in Paris the CAC 40 tumbled 0.99 per cent to 6,059.56, nearing the half-way mark.The euro stood at 1.3435 dollars.

In Frankfurt, TUI saw its share price slide 3.51 per cent to 21.18 euros after the German tourism and travel giant said it was launching 550 million euros (740 million dollars) of bonds to help refinance debt.

In London, Royal and Sun Alliance shares dived 4.07 per cent to 162.8 pence after the insurance group announced a recommended cash offer for the remaining shares in its Scandinavian business Codan.Barclays fell 0.63 percent to 715 pence, despite a 15 per cent jump in first-quarter pre-tax profits, helped by a strong performance at investment banking unit Barclays Capital.

Barclays is locked in a takeover battle for Dutch group ABN Amro with a European banking consortium led by British rival the Royal Bank of Scotland.—AFP