Investors take breather before key US jobs data

LONDON: World stocks fell yesterday as investors took a breather ahead of today's key US jobs data, which are expected to shed more light on the recovery in the world's largest economy and could well set the tone in markets for a week or two.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 19.98 points, or 0.4 percent, at 5,510.06 while Germany's DAX fell 52.78 points, or 0.9 percent, to 5,981.55. The CAC-40 in France was 21.55 points, or 0.5 percent, lower at 3,996.12.

Wall Street was also poised for a modest retreat at the open - Dow futures were down 32 points, or 0.3 percent, at 10,484 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 4.3 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,128.70.