Frankfurt - European shares came under pressure Thursday after worries about third-quarter corporate earnings and the economic outlook resulted in a rocky start on Wall Street and a slump in stocks across Asia.

With the economic gloom deepening and concerns setting in about another volatile day on Wall Street, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx 50 fell more than 2 per cent to 2180 points.

As the share trading day drew to an end in Europe, stocks in London were down about 2 per cent after gaining 0.90 per cent in early trading.

Reflecting the nervous investment climate prevailing on European share markets, Paris' CAC 40 index had lost 3 per cent in late afternoon trading after posting a
0.37-per-cent increase following its opening. Zurich was down 2.73 per cent.

Losses in Frankfurt continued to mount as the day unfolded with the exchange's key DAX index dragged down by a profit warning from giant German carmaker Daimler AG amid concerns about the outlook for the nation's car sector.

In releasing its earnings, Daimler became the first of Germany's major companies to report its third-quarter results.

After the shaky opening on Wall Street, the DAX fell about 3 per cent to 4436.

As the European trading day wound up, the oil price managed to pull back from recent losses, rising by 0.5 per cent to 66.90 dollars a barrel. In July energy prices were heading towards 150 dollars a barrel.

But the economic worries lead to renewed pressures on the euro, which started the day down 1.5 per cent at 1.2817 dollars.

Wednesday's fall in European stocks came in the wake of a plunge in shares in Tokyo on the back of disappointing company earnings with the Nikkei 225 index sliding by
2.46 per cent.

Hong Kong lost more than 3 per cent, while shares in New Delhi were down almost 4 per cent. (dpa)