LONDON, July 11: Europe's main stock markets dived lower on Wednesday as fears about the troubled US housing sector reverberated across global equities, dealers said. London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 0.52 per cent to 6,596.40 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index sank 1.34 percent to 7,858.36 and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.79 per cent to 5,971.75.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares shed 0.88 per cent to 4,434.74 points.

We're declining on the back of Wall Street's losses yesterday because of the concern there over sub-prime mortgages, said Peter Jarvis, director or European equities at F and C Investments.

It may be just an excuse to take profits, with the (European) markets at (recent) multi-year highs. Wall Street stocks had plunged on Tuesday as fresh concerns emerged about the US housing slump, hurting the overall finance sector, and after profit warnings from key US retailers dented sentiment.

Many analysts worry that problems in the American sub-prime mortgage sector, which caters to people with patchy credit histories, could have knock-on effects for the United States, which is the world's biggest economy.

Those fears were heightened by Tuesday's news that Standard and Poor's may cut ratings on 12 billion dollars (8.7 billion euros) in US subprime mortgage bonds, analysts said.

The concerns helped push the euro to a record 1.3787 euros earlier Wednesday, while the pound hit a fresh 26-year pinnacle of 2.0303 dollars.

Currency investors seek better prospects for higher interest rates in the eurozone and Britain -- but rising borrowing costs are deemed bad news for stock markets as they increase loan repayments and bite into consumer spending.

In US trade on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which came within a few points of its all-time record on Monday, slid 1.09 per cent to close at 13,501.70 points.

The Nasdaq composite sank 1.16 percent to 2,639.16 and the Standard and Poor's 500 broad-market index shed 1.42 percent to 1,510.11 points.

The US losses came as earnings season got underway, with retail giants Home Depot and Sears Holdings both warning of lower-than-expected profits.—AFP