German exports plunged in August by 5.2%, continuing a barrage of bad German economic reports. German DAX index shrugged the downfall nonetheless, rising 17 points, or 0.18%, as of 13:43 GMT.
Other main stock indexes posted mixed results; the French CAC 40 index was barely changed from its yesterday closing price, while the British FTSE 100 gained 24 points, or 0.38%, reaching 6,361.
U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, despite a jobless claims report showing claims near a 42-year low in last week, at 263,000, falling 13,000 from the previous week, and surprising forecasts of 274,000 new claims. The report highlighted consolidating employment market despite earlier reports showing falling hiring in September and August.
The Dow Jones fell 22 points, or 0.13%, to 16,890. NASDAQ 100 also fell 22 points, or 0.47%, to 4,768. S&P 500 fell 6 points, or 0.29%, reaching 1,989.
The Euro lost some of its earlier gains after the disappointing German exports report, it was slightly up against the dollar on late Thursday, at 1.1246 after rising to 1.1314 earlier in the session. Against Sterling, it stood at 0.7364. Against the Yen it was barely changed from yesterday, hovering around 134.86.
The Dollar gained ground after the positive jobless claims report. Against Sterling it erased earlier losses, rising to 1.5274. It pared most of its losses for the day against the Yen, reaching 119.94. The dollar pushed back against big rises for commodity currencies the Australian and Canadian dollars. The Aussie fell to $0.7185 while the dollar advanced slightly against the loonie for the second day, fetching 1.3065.
Bank of England left its interest rate unchanged at 0.50% as expected, by an 8 to 1 vote.
Crude oil recovered modestly on Thursday, shrugging off a more-than expected rise in U.S. inventories. U.S. oil rose 30 cents, reaching $48.32 a barrel. Brent oil, the global benchmark, rose 35 cents, hovering at $52.09 a barrel.
Spot gold fell eight dollars, or 0.71%, getting $1,141.97 an ounce. Silver lost 45 cents, or 2.77%, down to $15.66 an ounce.