European stocks turn lower, FTSE lower

European shares extended losses in morning deals on Thursday as worse-than-expected economic data and weak oil stocks weighed on the index.
By 0813 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares fell 0.8 percent to 1,179.99 points.
Germany's Ifo corporate sentiment index came in well below forecasts in July and Euro zone services and manufacturing activity shrank at a faster pace in July than anticipated by economists.
As oil traded below $125 a barrel, heavyweight stocks such as BP and Total were also under pressure, losing 0.8 and 1.9 percent respectively.
Britain's blue-chip index fell on Thursday as lower oil and metal prices weighed on heavyweight commodity shares, though a second-quarter trading update boosted retailer Kingfisher.
By 0749 GMT, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 was down 45.9 points, or 0.8 percent, at 5,404.0, after rising 1.6 percent on Wednesday.
Miners fell in step with weaker metal prices, with BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Xstrata, Vedanta Resources , Ferrexpo, Antofagasta and Lonmin all down between 0.8 and 2.5 percent.
Oil shares also fell as crude oil traded below $125 a barrel, well off its peak of nearly $148 earlier this month.
BP lost 0.5 percent, Royal Dutch Shell eased 0.2 percent, Cairn Energy dropped 1.9 percent, and Tullow Oil shed 2.5 percent.
Gas producer BG Group lost 3 percent despite revealing that net profit, excluding one-off items, beat forecasts to rise 97 percent to 807 million pounds in the second quarter thanks to high gas prices.
However, weaker crude prices eased inflationary pressure amid slowing global growth.
"It may be too early, but there is an emerging view that oil may have at last found a settling point," said Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners. "Achieving a point of stability is far more important than looking at a misguided belief that the price of oil is suddenly going to go down further.
"If some form of stability is going to be achieved in the oil price, then it is a good reason for the market to reflect a more positive view."
Kingfisher soared more than 11 percent after Europe's biggest home improvements retailer reported a 0.2 percent rise in second-quarter like-for-like sales at its B&Q chain in the UK and improved gross margins in both its UK and French businesses.
UK retail sales data for June, due at 0830 GMT, and U.S. home sales figures and weekly jobless claims later in the day will provide further clarity on the health of the British and U.S. economies.
Index heavyweight Vodafone extended the previous session's recovery, rising 1.4 percent. The mobile phone group announced on Wednesday a surprise billion-pound share buyback programme after its stock fell a day earlier on a weaker-than-expected trading update.
Rolls-Royce advanced 1.9 percent after the engine maker said underlying profit before taxation rose 8 percent and its order book increased 17 percent to 53.5 billion pounds.
UK banks were generally weaker following their recent strong run, despite Swiss bank Credit Suisse beating forecasts with its second-quarter net profit.
Barclays, HBOS, HSBC and Lloyds TSB were down between 0.5 and 2.2 percent.
Morgan Stanley, however, said in a note that it was closing its "cautious" stance on banks and diversified financials sector and moving to "neutral".
"Whilst our strategic view about the outlook for banking earnings and book value growth remains bearish and we recognise the range of possible outcomes is particularly wide, as a trading call we see good opportunities in banks as major sector rotation should lift the banks sector higher," it said. (Reuters)