Yen gave up ground in European trading after initial rallies induced by the tumult in Asian markets which nudged investors to buy it as a safe haven. Yen was last down 0.36% against the dollar at 117.85 after jumping to a 4-1/2 months high earlier at 116.70. It tumbled 0.77% against sterling to 171.88, after earlier hitting its highest in 15 months against the British currency at 169.40.

Euro followed a similar path in today's volatile trading, with initial gains by the common currency getting evaporated later in the session, pressured by data showing investors confidence in the Eurozone at its weakest in a year.  Euro gave up 0.54% against the dollar to 1.0868, after rising to a two-week high earlier at 1.0969. It lost a whopping 1.0% against sterling to 0.7452, after enjoying an 11-month peak earlier at 0.7550. Sterling gained another 0.41% against the dollar to 1.4588 after reaching extremely oversold levels in technical indicators due to nine consecutive sessions of decline.

Chinese shares plunged by more than 5%, bringing Asian markets to 4-year lows, but European shares shrugged them off, with the pan-European index FTSEurofirst jumping 0.80% to 1,351. Germany's DAX outperformed the market, rallying 1.21% to 9,967, while France's CAC advanced 0.88%. Britain's commodity-heavy FTSE index on the other hand underperformed; affected by the slump in oil and mineral prices, to trade only 0.14% higher at 5,920.

Oil prices remained down for the day near 12-year lows, with Brent crude futures losing 68 cents, or 2.05% to $33.25 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediary (WTI) crude futures slid 57 cents, or 1.72% to $32.56 a barrel.