LONDON (AFP) - European stock markets recoiled in early trading after Wall Street ended in loss overnight as oil prices rebounded, and after-hours results from Motorola disappointed investors.
The London FTSE 100 index dropped by 0.94 percent at 4,611.60 points, the Frankfurt DAX 30 declined 1.44 percent to 3,907.14 points and the Paris CAC 40 shed 1.01 percent to 3,663.34 points.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares lost 1.14 percent to 2,769.14 points.
The euro stood at 1.2591 dollars.
In New York shares saw an early rally go into reverse Tuesday after crude oil prices pared steep losses to trade back above the 53-dollar mark, ending with only modest losses.
The rebound offset positive sentiment kindled by solid quarterly results from technology titans IBM and Texas Instruments on Monday, and an upbeat report Tuesday from food and tobacco giant Altria.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.59 percent at 9,897.62 points and the technology-rich Nasdaq composite shed 0.70 percent to 1,922.90.
The Standard and Poor's 500 index retreated 0.97 percent to 1,103.23.
Light sweet crude for delivery in November ended down 38 cents at 53.29 dollars a barrel in New York, and was showing a gain of eight cents to 53.37 dollars in pre-opening electronic trading.
The world's number-two mobile telephone group, Motorola Inc. saw its shares slide in out-of-hours US deals after posting a 26-percent rise in the quarter to October to 8.62 billion dollars -- just short of market expectations.
Shares in Finnish rival Nokia fell 1.57 percent to 11.91 euros, though some analysts saw the Motorola results as confirming a trend that Nokia is winning handset market share.
"As a whole we feel Motorolas report was slightly positive for Nokia," said an analyst at Mandatum Stockbrokers in Helsinki.
In London insurer Prudential extended sharp losses seen Tuesday after announcing plans to sell new shares worth one billion pounds (1.44 billion euros, 1.80 billion dollars).
Prudential shares dropped 2.76 percent to 394.5 pence after brokers Credit Swiss First Boston and and Lehman Brothers downgraded their ratings on the insurer following news of the proposed rights issue.
Mining stocks also suffered, led lower by Rio Tinto -- down 1.88 percent at 1,412 pence -- after the Anglo-Australian resources giant's third quarter production report failed to inspire buyers.
BHP Billiton fell 2.14 percent to 549 pence, Anglo American dropped 1.87 percent to 1,209 pence and Xstrata lost 1.94 percent to 836 pence.
In Tokyo the Nikkei-225 shares index closed down 1.65 percent at 10,882.18 points while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index lost 1.18 percent to 12,999.13.