European shares slipped by midday on Thursday as falling copper prices hit mining stocks and macroeconomic data did little to dispel fears of interest rate increases, according to Reuters. At 1153 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.5 percent at 1,495.34 points, slipping from a near six-year high hit on Wednesday. The euro lost ground against the dollar, buying $1.31, oil rose slightly after losing $2 in the previous session, and gold slipped to a one-week low on the stronger greenback. Mining shares were the top losers in Europe as London Metal Exchange Copper hovered near a 9-month low on the back of an increase in inventories and worries about slowing demand in China. Xstrata was down 4.8 percent, Kazakhmys down 4.5 percent, BHP Billiton down 4.4 percent and Antofagasta down 4 percent. Copper prices have fallen 10 percent already so far this year but the metal still commands a price more than double that of three years ago. "People may be slightly starting to get cold feet after a 300 percent rise," said a London-based fund source. "Maybe some people are thinking it might be time to sell base metals and go away." The DJ Stoxx European Basic Resources index was down more than 3 percent, with component steel stock Salzgitter down nearly 5 percent. Shares in German drugs and chemicals group Merck KGaA rose 4.8 percent on a newspaper report that it was planning to sell its generics unit, and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters that it planned a quick disposal. Merck declined to comment.
