European and Asian stocks were mostly down Thursday following a weak lead from Wall Street, as investors digested mixed company earnings and remained risk-adverse ahead of a coin-toss US election.

Investors will also be eyeing US personal consumption expenditures data -- the Federal Reserve's prefered inflation measure -- released later in the day for signals about the pace of future interest-rate cuts.

The three main US stock indices lost ground on Wednesday, with shares in Microsoft and Facebook-parent Meta dropping in after-hours trading.

Despite both tech giants delivering upbeat results, investors "baulked at the expectation of increased AI spending", said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.

Analyst said that tech losses, including losses for the semiconductor industry, also led declines in European indices.

Frankfurt retreated 0.5 percent and Paris lost 0.9, as official data showed the eurozone's annual inflation rebounded more than expected in October due to rising food costs.

Shares in French bank Societe General jumped over eight percent after it reported better-than-expected results.

Meanwhile its rival BNP Paribas saw its shares slump around six percent after results fell short of expectations.

London shed 0.8 percent after the new centre-left government unveiled major tax hikes, mainly targeted at businesses, in its maiden budget.

"This was one of the largest increases in tax, spending and borrowing in the UK's budget history", said Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB.

"For a government that planned to boost growth, they have fallen spectacularly at the first hurdle," she added.

Tokyo fell by half a percent, weighed down by a stronger yen and a drop in stocks linked to the semiconductor industry, which also dipped on Wall Street.

The Bank of Japan decided to leave its main interest rate unchanged, saying in an outlook report that there were "high uncertainties surrounding Japan's economic activities and prices".

Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management attributed Asian markets' wobble to pre-vote "jitters", saying traders were "wary of taking on new risk as the US election countdown begins".

Mainland Chinese markets, however, made healthy gains following a forecast-beating manufacturing report -- in a piece of rare good news for leaders struggling to boost activity in the world's second-largest economy.

Uncertainty over the outcome of the upcoming US elections, meanwhile, buoyed safe haven gold, which touched a fresh high of $2,790.10 an ounce on Thursday.

Oil prices continued their rebound, fuelled by good news on demand from the United States, as well as by press reports that OPEC countries are considering postponing an increase in crude supply.

- Key figures around 1110 GMT -

  • London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,093.07 points
  • Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.9 percent at 7,359.92
  • Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 19,159.72
  • Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.5 percent at 39,081.25 (close)
  • Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 20,317.33 (close)
  • Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,279.82 (close)
  • New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 42,141.54 points (close)
  • Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0865 from $1.0861 on Wednesday
  • Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2986 from $1.2969
  • Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.69 yen from 153.35 yen
  • Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.64 from 83.75 pence
  • Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $72.52 per barrel
  • West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $68.94 per barrel