Summary In foreign exchange trading, the euro fell to $1.3666 from $1.3735 late in New York on Wednesday.
LONDON (AFP) - European stock markets diverged on Thursday and the dollar showd a mixed performance as traders assessed the outlook for US stimulus and reacted to news of record-high eurozone unemployment.
Dealers reacted also to a host of company earnings, including from the energy and banking sectors.
Approaching midday in London, the benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 0.53 percent to stand at 6,741.96 points -- weighed down by large losses to the share price of heavyweight energy group Royal Dutch Shell.
Frankfurt s DAX 30 slipped 0.18 percent to 8,994.20 points and in Paris the CAC 40 edged up 0.09 percent to 4,278.13 compared with Wednesday s closing values.
Madrid s main stocks index advanced by 0.57 percent and Milan by 0.51 percent.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds fell below 4.0 percent for the second time this year, to a low point on the day of 3.978 percent from 4.063 percent late on Wednesday
"The market is still digesting the latest Fed decision ... as European equities follow their Asian and US peers lower," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com trading group.
"Although October s Fed statement did not differ by that much compared with the statement in September, the Fed delivered a powerful punch."
While the US Federal Reserve s decision to keep its $85 billion-a-month scheme in place was widely expected, the upbeat outlook provided some support for the dollar.
In foreign exchange trading, the euro fell to $1.3666 from $1.3735 late in New York on Wednesday.
But the dollar fell to 98.19 yen from 98.50. The euro dropped to 85.28 pence against the British pound, which was lower at $1.6026.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold slipped to $1,335.04 an ounce from $1,354.75 on Wednesday.
Switzerland s central bank said on Thursday that it had lost billions of dollars during the first nine months of the year amid a sharp drop in gold prices.
Across the eurozone meanwhile, the unemployment rate hit a record 12.2 percent in September, with about 19.5 million people classed as jobless by EU data agency Eurostat.
The annual rate of inflation in the 17-country bloc fell to 0.7 percent in October, the lowest for four years, according to an initial estimate.
In stock market trading, shares in Royal Dutch Shell slumped 4.94 percent to 2,165 pence after the company said net profit slid 35 percent in the third quarter on lower refining margins and disruption to production in Nigeria.
Profit after tax fell by a third to $4.677 billion ( 3.42 billion euros) in the three months to September 30 compared with the equivalent period in 2012, the Anglo-Dutch company said in an earnings statement.
French rival Total fell 1.40 percent to 44.59 euros after the company also reported a sharp fall in net profit for the third quarter, owing to a surge of exploration costs and a slump in European refining margins.
French bank BNP Paribas gained 2.58 percent to 54.13 euros after posting unexpectedly strong quarterly profits, saying that cuts in costs and risk charges had compensated for a fall in sales.
Shares in French construction engineering and energy service group Technip fell 7.53 percent to 79.51 euros after it reported steady quarterly profits but edged down its sales outlook for the year.
In London, shares in AstraZeneca slipped 1.84 percent to 3,268 pence as the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals group said net profit slid in the third quarter on the loss of patent exclusivity on some of its main drugs.
"Corporate earnings from Europe have again proved to be dismal," said ETX Capital analyst Ishaq Siddiqi. "US earnings have been a little better," he added in a note to clients.
