Stocks in Europe edged down in early trade Thursday, following a sell-off in commodities yesterday, with mining stocks bearing the brunt of the decline.
At 1:15 pm. (I.S.T.), Britain's FTSE, France's CAC and Germany's DAX fell 0.8% to 0.9%.
Silver miner Fresnillo dropped 4.5%, mirroring a fall in commodity prices, while diversified miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Anglo American were off 2.3% to 3.3%.
A couple of insurance companies declared quarterly earnings, with damages from the recent Japanese quake reflecting in the results: Aegon dropped 4.7% following its announcements while Allianz lost 1.2% after its numbers.
Elsewhere, Asian stocks were trading broadly lower with resource plays taking a hit.