LONDON, Sept 28: European stock exchanges closed weaker on Friday, with sentiment in several capitals weighed down by record surges in the euro and the price of oil.

The London FTSE 100 index shed 0.30pc to close at 6,466.80, while in Paris, the CAC 40 fell 0.31pc to finish at 5,715.69. But the Dax in Frankfurt managed to edge up 0.10pc to reach 7,861.51.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares fell 0.17pc to close at 4381.71.

US share prices edged lower in mid-day trade as investors made end-of-quarter portfolio adjustments and mulled better-than-expected consumer spending and inflation data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.06pc to 13,904.24 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 0.22pc to reach 2,703.55.

Ahead of the market opening, the government said US consumer spending rose 0.6pc in August as Americans shrugged off credit and housing market turmoil. Personal income, however, rose a more modest 0.3pc, slightly below expectations of a 0.4pc gain.

“So far, the housing and credit problems have not dented the consumer’s armour,” said Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors.

In London, sugar producer Tate and Lyle plunged 27.08pc to close at 402.50 pence after warning in a statement that its earnings would likely suffer from higher production costs and the weakness in the dollar.

Troubled mortgage lender Northern Rock, after positive performances over the past two days, fell 7.39pc to 179.20 pence after the Financial Times reported that it had to borrow another 5.0 billion pounds from the Bank of England, bringing to 8.0 billion the amount borrowed since last week.

Elsewhere in the banking sector, Alliance and Leicester lost 0.38pc to finish at 792 pence.

In Paris aerospace giant EADS rose 2.33pc to reach 21.56 euros as investors welcomed a big order announced Thursday by British Airways for the Airbus A380.

Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent rose 4.20pc to 7.19 euros on a Financial Times report that the company’s board had called on chief executive Patricia Russo to draft an emergency restructuring plan within a month.

In Frankfurt Deutsche Telekom, which announced the purchase of the Dutch subsidiary of French mobile phone operator Orange for 1.33bon euros, gained 0.36pc to close at 13.78 euros.

Automaker BMW fell 1.63pc to 45.23 euros on investor disappointment with its new growth strategy.—AFP