European shares slip again

European shares reversed an early rebound and slipped again on Thursday morning, resuming their month-long sell-off as worries over the strength of the global economy and fears of deflation in the euro zone kept investors on edge. At 0820 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.2 per cent at 1,249.39 points, after gaining as much as 1 per cent at the open. The index sank 3.2 per cent on Wednesday, suffering its biggest one-day slide since late 2011. The slump represented a wipe-off in market value of about $255 billion for European stocks listed on the broad STOXX Europe 600 index, more than the GDP of Portugal. Southern European markets were the most hit on Thursday, with Spain's IBEX down 1.4 per cent, Italy's MIB down 1.1 per cent and Portugal's PSI 20 down 1.5 per cent, according to Reuters.