European blue chips picked up from the day's lows in yesterday's trade, boosted by stronger technology stocks as Wall Street turned positive after data showed manufacturing in the US Midwest grew faster than expected.
The Chicago Purchasing Management's index of manufacturing was 58.9 in August, well above forecasts of 55.5, giving further credence to arguments that the world's biggest economy is on a recovery path.
Investors were also busy digesting comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who said he preferred to set economic policy by managing possible risks rather than obeying formal rules.
By 1430 GMT, the FTSE Eurotop 300 index was down 0.3 per cent at 903 points, while the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index lost 0.3 per cent to 2,568 points.
Around Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 per cent, the Swiss SMI lost 0.4 per cent. Germany's DAX was 0.3 per cent higher and France's CAC 40 was 0.2 per cent firmer.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average and the tech-rich Nasdaq were both about 0.3 per cent stronger. Dealings are expected to be light in New York as many investors leave early for the long weekend, with the US markets shut on Monday in observance of Labour Day.
Germany's Siemens rose 1.2 per cent after the head of its handset business told Reuters in an interview he expects to sell 15 to 20 per cent more mobile phones in the current year to September than last year, outpacing 10 per cent growth in the wider market.
Other phone makers also climbed, with Nokia up 1.28 per cent. Swiss Re, the world's number-two reinsurer, was 3.08 per cent weaker despite posting a higher-than-expected jump of nearly six-fold in first-half net profit on strong non-life premium income growth, shaking off the impact of a weak dollar.
Dealers said investors were switching out of the stock after it outperformed its peer Munich Re by about 10 per cent over the past week.
Norwegian bottle and can recycling group Tomra surged over 16 per cent and was the most heavily traded share in Oslo after having received a break-through order in the key German market.