LONDON, Aug 28: Europe’s main stock markets dropped in initial trading Tuesday on renewed worries about the weak US housing market which also caused Wall Street to fall overnight, dealers said.

In late morning trade, London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares lost 0.61 per cent to 6,182.20 points, as British investors returned to their desks after a long holiday weekend.

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 shed 0.37 per cent to 7,458.04 points and in Paris the CAC 40 decreased 0.88 per cent to 5,541.22.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares gave up 0.74 per cent to 4,209.64 points.

The euro was flat at 1.3647 dollars. US shares lost ground Monday as a weak report on US home sales prompted investors to lock in some of the hefty gains from last week’s rally.

Britain’s third biggest bank Barclays was a notable faller, down 1.47 per cent at 602 pence after the Financial Times reported that the bank has exposure of several hundred million dollars to failed debt vehicles created by its investment banking arm amid growing scrutiny over its links to SachsenLB.

Barclays was also hit by concerns about the impact of the credit crunch on its bid battle for Dutch bank ABN Amro, with weekend press reports suggesting that both its bid and a rival one by a consortium could be hit.

Royal Bank of Scotland, leader of the consortium bidding for ABN Amro, was down 1.38 per cent at 573 pence.

In New York on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.42 per cent to close at 13,322.12 points.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 0.60 per cent to 2,561.25 points and the broad-market Standard Poor’s 500 index shed 0.85 per cent to finish at 1,466.79.—AFP