LONDON (AFP) - European stock markets saw an early rally fade as resurgent oil prices kept investors cautious.
The London FTSE 100 index fell Thursday by 0.16 percent to 4,609.20 points, the Frankfurt DAX slipped 0.03 percent to 3,911.37 points and the Paris CAC 40 eased back 0.12 percent to 3,661.43 points.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares nevertheless managed to eke out a gain of 0.19 percent to 2,774.46 points.
The euro held firm close to recent eight-month highs against its US counterpart, being quoted at 1.2615 dollars.
In New York shares closed mixed Wednesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit by a surge in crude oil prices and several lackluster earnings reports.
The Dow closed down 0.11 percent at 9,886.93 points while the tech-laden Nasdaq composite gained 0.52 percent to 1,932.97.
The broad market Standard and Poor's 500 index inched up 0.43 points to 1,103.66, also reversing earlier declines.
A fresh surge in oil prices, following news of a fifth straight weekly drop in diesel and heating oil stocks, weighed on sentiment.
New York light sweet crude for November delivery closed the day at 54.92 dollars a barrel before the contract expired, up 1.63 dollars from Tuesday's close.
The December contract, the new benchmark, climbed by four cents to 54.45 dollars a barrel in electronic Thursday.
In London, mining stocks were in better form after Anglo-Australian resources giant BHP Billiton said output of iron ore and aluminum reached new quarterly records, boosted by capacity increases and strong demand.
The company's shares gained 0.98 percent to 564.5 pence.
Rio Tinto, whose own quarterly production report received had a lukewarm response on Wednesday, added 1.06 percent to 1,436 pence, while Xstrata won 1.41 percent to 865 pence.
SAP gained 2.21 percent to 132.86 euros after the German software giant unveiled better-than-expected third quarter figures.
"It was an excellent quarter, absolutely," said John Segrich, analyst at JP Morgan, adding that he was also impressed by SAP's renewed strength in Europe. "We've heard about a large deal in the Benelux public sector, and an insurance deal in France."
SAP said net profit grew by 15 percent to 291 million euros (366 million dollars) in the period from July to September on an eight-percent increase in revenues to 1.776 billion euros.
Software revenues, the most important yardstick for measuring SAP's performance, were up by 13 percent at 491 million euros.
Shares in Allied Domecq fell 0.92 percent to 486.5 pence after the British drinks giant reported results in line with expectations, including a six-percent rise in annual pretax profits led by strong sales in the United States and at the restaurants division.