LONDON, June 27: Europe's main stock markets fell on Wednesday after Wall Street had finished slightly lower overnight, traders said. In London the share price in Northern Rock tumbled by more than ten per cent after the British mortgage lender issued a profits warning.

In late morning deals, London's FTSE 100 index of top shares lost 0.57 pc to 6,521.70 points, as the nation waited to see who would replace Gordon Brown as Britain's finance minister.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Brown was Wednesday set to become the country's prime minister, replacing Tony Blair who is stepping down after ten years in power.

In early Frankfurt trading meanwhile, the DAX 30 share index slid 0.71 pc to 7,804.65 points. The Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.52 pc to 5,922.65 points and the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares shed 0.53 pc to 4,409.62.

The major US stock indexes ended slightly weaker Tuesday as separate surveys showed a fall in new home sales and a sharp plunge in consumer sentiment, dealers said.

In London, Northern Rock saw its share price dive 10.3 pc to 850 pence after Britain's eighth-biggest bank said its underlying profit for 2007 was set to rise by about 15 pc, compared with the 17-pc increase forecast by analysts.

Northern Rock, which specialises in home loans, said full-year profit was set to fall short of analyst estimates because of a bigger-than-expected increases in British interest rates.—AFP