London: Europe’s main stock markets steadied yesterday one day after equities slumped on jitters regarding the economic outlook, traders said.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index edged up 0.05 percent to 5,270.13 points in late morning trade. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 rose 0.10 percent to 5,707.43 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.05 percent to 3,761.95 approaching the half-way stage.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares dipped 0.03 percent to 2,859.36 points.

“The economic data this week has been mixed and while the markets look to be in a state of flux it would seem that economists are becoming more and more unsure about how the recovery will pan out,” said Capital Spreads analyst Simon Denham.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.90 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 1.66 percent.

In Europe yesterday, the share price of Nokia was trading down 1.54 percent at ¤8.96 after the world’s biggest mobile phone maker said it would shed about 330 jobs in Finland and Denmark as part of a streamlining of its research and development operations.

“The planned changes are expected to affect up to 230 employees at Nokia’s Oulu site in Finland and approximately 100 employees at Nokia’s Copenhagen site,” the firm said in a statement.