European stock markets fell but the euro rose against the dollar on Thursday as traders reacted to US economic data and strong British retail sales figures.
London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 1.58 percent to close at 6,483.34 points, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 dropped 0.73 percent to 8,376.29 points, and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.51 percent to 4,093.20 points.
"European stock markets have continued to feel the weight of imminent taper tension today dropping sharply as economic data continues to broadly improve, while company earnings announcements have generally missed expectations," said analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK.
Global stock markets have driven for the past week about speculation about when the US Federal Reserve will begin its planned phase out of monetary stimulus known as quantitative easing.
Data suggesting the US economy is recovering has triggered stock selloffs as investors see that as indication the Fed could begin to reduce as soon as September its stimulus from its current level of $85 billion a month.
Weekly US jobless claims declined to their lowest level in six years, data showed Thursday, a sign of firming in the jobs market that is one of major concerns of the Fed.
In foreign exchange trading, the euro climbed to $1.3268 compared with $1.3255 late in New York on Wednesday. The dollar slumped to 97.84 yen from 98.14 yen.
Sterling continued to gain versus the European single currency and dollar following strong British retail sales data, which jumped 1.1 percent in July from the level in June as a heatwave fuelled spending on food, drinks and summer clothing.
The euro bought 0.8520 pence, and the pound bought $1.5571.
Analysts said the data pointed further to expectations of a rise in the Bank of England's record-low interest rate sooner than expected.
British retail sales -- an important indicator of consumer confidence -- meanwhile grew by 3.0 percent in July compared with one year earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) added on Thursday.
The data builds on a number of recent releases showing improvement across all sectors of Britain's economy.
"The UK data just keeps getting better at the moment and is showing no signs of changing," said Erlam.
"At this rate, a year that started with talk of a triple dip recession could end with far better growth figures than even the most optimistic forecasts."
Shares in International Airlines Group, which includes British Airways and Iberia, fell 2.5 percent to 308.10 pence despite the announcement of a major order of 62 Airbus aircraft for its second Spanish airline, Vueling.
Meanwhile in Paris, shares in EADS, the parent company of Airbus, saw its shares edge up 0.13 percent to 45.11 euros on the firm order for 62 aircraft and options on a further 158.
Asian stock markets mostly closed lower on Thursday after disappointing numbers from the United States offset upbeat sentiment following Europe's exit from a long and damaging recession.
Tokyo's main index slid 2.12 percent as a stronger yen helped pull down the market and questions swirled about whether Japan would usher in a corporate tax cut.
US stocks were sharply lower in midday trade on Thursday following mixed economic data and disappointing earnings outlooks from Dow components Cisco and Walmart.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 1.12 percent to 15,165.46 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 lost 1.13 percent to 1,666.30 points, while the tech-rich
Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.26 percent to 3,623.17 points.
While weekly US jobless claims declined to their lowest level in six years, other US economic data was mediocre. Consumer prices rose a scant 0.2 percent in July and US industrial output was flat.
Meanwhile, information technology giant Cisco announced it was cutting 4,000 jobs due to the weaker-than-expected economic recovery, sending its shares down 6.8 percent.
Walmart trimmed its full-year earnings and revenue prediction, citing tepid consumer activity in the US and abroad, with its shares showing a drop of 2.2 percent.
US bond yields also pushed sharply higher, with the yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.80 percent from 2.71 percent, while the 30-year jumped to 3.82 percent from 3.75 percent.
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