The UK market is modestly lower in afternoon trading Friday, as global economic worries continued to linger amid a report on China's weaker-than-expected export growth.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is losing 0.44 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is dropping 0.43 percent.
The FTSE 100 index opened at 5,856 and has been seeing volatile trading that took the index to either side of the unchanged line. It is currently losing 0.29 percent.
Anglo American, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are losing.
AstraZeneca is declining 1.2 percent. Barclays cut its rating on the stock to "Underweight" from "Overweight."
Kingfisher is falling 1.4 percent, while Tesco is up 0.85 percent.
Lloyds Banking Group is down over 1.1 percent. Royal Bank of Scotland is modestly up.
Arm Holdings is up 2.1 percent and Associated British Foods is adding 1.8 percent. Carnival is gaining 1.1 percent.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is losing 0.15 percent and the French CAC 40 is retreating 0.62 percent. Switzerland's SMI is losing 0.39 percent.
In economic news, German inflation eased for the first time in nine months in May, as the pace of increase in energy costs slowed, official figures revealed. Nonetheless, inflation continued to stay above the central bank's target.
U.K. output price inflation slowed to 5.3 percent on a yearly basis in May from 5.5 percent in April, in line with economists' expectations. The index of industrial production dropped 1.7 percent month-on-month compared to an increase of 0.2 percent in March. Economists were expecting it to remain flat in April.
Meanwhile, Britons' inflation expectations for the year ahead eased slightly in May, a survey by the Bank of England and GfK NOP showed. Consumers' one-year ahead inflation expectations slowed to 3.9 percent in May from 4 percent in February.
Across Asia/Pacific, Australia's All Ordinaries gained 0.29 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.10 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.50 percent. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.84 percent.
China's trade surplus increased in May, but the growth was far below economists' expectations as imports surged along with a cool off in export growth. Exports grew 19.4 percent year-on-year in May to $157.16 billion, but was weaker than the 20.4 percent growth forecast by economists.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, the Nasdaq climbed 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.7 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for July delivery is losing $0.98 to $100.95 per barrel, while gold is slipping $0.3 to $1542.4 a troy ounce.
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