LONDON, Oct 11 (AFP) - European stock markets mainly slipped lower Monday, pressured by a mixed performance on Wall Street and fresh record high oil prices.
The London FTSE 100 index closed 0.29 percent lower at 4,685.5 points and the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.27 percent to 3,727.87, while the Frankfurt DAX 30 finished essentially flat, up 0.06 percent at 4,017.82.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares dipped 0.09 percent to 2,813.82 points.
The euro stood at 1.2384 dollars.
On Wall Street, by London's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed modest gains after Friday's decline as crude oil futures ticked lower, rallying 27.20 points higher to 10,082.40, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 2.59 points higher to 1,922.56 despite weakness in chip stocks.
US crude futures slipped back in late morning trading, after reaching a fresh record high of 53.67 dollar a barrel in New York earlier, as supply concerns eased slightly.
Over the weekend, two OPEC members, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, pledged to increase supply or boost reserves as oil prices spiral higher, according to media reports.
However, underlying trade in New York remained cautious ahead of a busy week to come for US corporate news, with a raft of key results announcements due from the likes of Citigroup, Bank of America, Dow Jones, and General Motors.
"It has been rather quiet and volume was very thin. The market was largely pressured by the very high crude prices," said one Paris dealer.
And with US bond markets closed for the Columbus Day holiday Monday, interest across the Atlantic was fairly limited.
There was little solid direction on the corporate front in London, except for British supermarket chain J Sainsbury's third profit warning of the year, pushing its share 0.79 percent lower to 250 pence.
Elsewhere on the downside, BT Group was the biggest FTSE 100 faller, shedding 2.15 percent to 181.75 pence after CSFB trimmed its earnings estimates for the group, arguing that while the growth in broadband and solutions remained strong, the newsflow and revenue outlook in these areas had tempered in recent months.
The Swiss broker cut BT Group revenue forecasts by one percent for 2005 and by two percent for 2006 and reiterated its 'neutral' stance.
In Frankfurt, ThyssenKrupp led the DAX higher, pushing up 1.17 percent to 16.45 euros, as rising global steel prices continued to lure investors into the stock.
But stock market operator Deutsche Boerse dropped 2.42 percent to 39.99 euros, though dealers and analysts were bereft of reasons for the stock's weak performance.
"It should be of no surprise that the third quarter was weak," said one analyst.
Chip maker Infineon lost 1.17 percent to 8.47 euros, following a dismal performance by US peers on Friday and amid talk that Deutsche Bank had downgraded its view on US rival Micron Technology.
Elsewhere in Europe, the Swiss SMI index shed 0.53 percent to 5,474.7 points, the Amsterdam AEX lost 0.14 percent to 334.43, the Brussels Bel-20 edged down 0.02 percent to 2,759.16 and the Madrid Ibex-35 dropped 0.26 percent to 8,301.7.
The Milan Mib 30 crept up 0.03 percent to 28,740.0.
In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 0.48 percent higher at 13,305.13 points. The Tokyo stock market was closed for a holiday.