Europe midday: Auto stocks pace the decline as Renault tumbles

European equity markets slid on Thursday, taking their cue from losses on Wall Street and a mostly-negative Asian session, with autos pacing the decline as Renault tanked.

Just after midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 3.1%, Germany’s DAX was off 3.1% and France’s CAC was 3.2% weaker.

In London, the FTSE 100 was down 2% after the Bank of England kept interest rates and its asset-purchase programme on hold at 0.5% and £375bn.

In commodities, oil prices recovered after Brent fell below $30 in Asian trade amid a global supply glut. West Texas Intermediate was up 0.9% to $30.76 while Brent crude was 1.3% higher at $30.71.

“We cannot escape the oil price at the moment after Brent dropped below $30 for the first time since 2003 yesterday. However one thing that could give markets a little more joy is the fact that neither WTI nor Brent have managed to maintain a move below the key level at the moment,” said James Hughes, chief market analyst at GKFX.

On Wednesday, the US Energy Information Administration said gasoline stockpiles rose by 8.4m barrels in the week to 8 January, which was significantly more than the 1.6m analysts had been expecting.

In corporate news, car maker Renault tumbled on reports that French fraud investigators seized computers from the company as part of a suspected probe into emissions testing.

The news weighed on the broader sector, pushing the Stoxx 600 autos and parts index down a whopping 6%.

Meanwhile, a series of bomb blasts and gun battles on the streets of Indonesian capital Jakarta, which were being blamed on Islamic State militants, hit travel stocks.

The Stoxx 600 travel and leisure index fell 3.8%.

Elsewhere, shares in French supermarket operator Casino fell sharply after it posted an 11% drop in fourth quarter revenue.

Alstom was in the red after the maker of TGV high-speed trains said nine-month orders fell 22%.

Norway’s biggest energy company, Statoil was also on the back foot after acquiring a stake in Swedish oil and gas company Lundin Petroleum, whose shares rose.

On the upside, supermarket retailer Tesco surged after it reported an impressive like-for-like improvement over the Christmas period.

Luxury clothing retailer Burberry edged higher after it reported a 1% rise in underlying third quarter sales to £603m, with comparable sales unchanged year-on-year against a 4% drop in the previous quarter.

On the data front, figures released by Destatis showed German gross domestic product rose 1.7% in 2015.

The reading, which was in line with economists’ expectations, marked a marginal improvement on the 1.6% growth of 2014 and the strongest rate in four years.

Still to come, investors will eye the release of the European Central Bank’s December meeting at 1230 GMT.In the US, initial jobless claims are at 1330 GMT along with the import price index.