LONDON, May 24: European stock markets slid modestly on Friday, following sharp losses suffered the previous day, failing to score gains despite positive data from Germany and the US.

London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares shed 0.63pc to 6,654.34 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX 30 index fell 0.56pc to 8,305.32 points and in Paris the CAC 40 slid 0.26pc to 3,956.79 points.

The Madrid market dropped 0.95pc and Milan shed 0.65pc.

After the drama of Thursday’s sell-off, trading was much calmer as investors weighed up whether the fall was the first phase of a much deeper correction still to come, said Matt Basi, head of UK sales trading at CMC Markets.

“Much stronger than expected measures on the German IFO business survey ...weren’t enough to inspire a return to ‘buy the dip mode’ in Europe this morning as bulls took a more cautious approach, with speculation over an end to the Fed’s asset purchase programme back on the agenda,” he said in a broker note.

German business confidence rose unexpectedly in May, data showed on Friday, as businesses in Europe’s top economy express become more optimistic about the future.

The Ifo economic institute’s closely watched business climate index rose to 105.7 points in May from 104.4 points in April.

“The firms are clearly more satisfied with their current business situation than in the previous month.

The outlook for future business is unchanged and slightly positive,” said the think tank’s economist Kai Carstensenhe.

On Thursday, most European indices dropped more than 2.0pc after Tokyo shares plunged owing to weak Chinese data and signs that the US Federal Reserve may soon taper massive stimulus measures.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold dropped to $1,390.25 an ounce from $1,408.50 on Thursday. US stocks fell despite a rebound in US durable goods orders in April.

In midday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.19pc to 15,264.83 points, while the broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.32pc to 1,645.19 and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 0.34pc at 3,459.42.—AFP