European shares fell sharply Thursday amid renewed concerns about the world's two biggest economies - the United States and China, according to dpa. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 slumped 2.22 per cent to 303.69 points in morning trading after signs that the US Federal Reserve might wind back its stimulus programme and the release of weak manufacturing data for China. The drop in the Stoxx 600 reflected similar falls across national bourses with London's FTSE 100 index down 2.04 per cent and Frankfurt's DAX falling 2.75 per cent. Stocks in Paris were off 2.6 per cent. Dealers said the fall in European stocks reflected worries that moves by the US monetary authorities to pull back from their stimulus programme could make it more difficult for the eurozone to recover from recession. Those concerns followed comments Wednesday by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the central bank could trim its bond-buying scheme in the coming months. Meanwhile, HSBC bank said Thursday that the preliminary version of its Purchasing Managers Index for China's manufacturing sector fell for the first time in seven months in May.
