Markets swing lower on China trade data, retail row

World stocks mostly fell Thursday as weak Chinese data reinforced fears over the world's number two economy, while a spat between Britain's Tesco and Dutch giant Unilever hit sentiment in Europe.

In afternoon deals, Europe's main stock indices were down over one percent, while Wall Street also opened on the down side.

Asian bourses also buckled on news that China's exports plummeted last month, as anaemic global demand hit the world's second-largest economy, while weak imports fuelled worries about crucial domestic appetite.

However, troubled Samsung Electronics staged a slight recovery on bargain-buying after losing about 10 percent of its value this week on the Galaxy Note 7 crisis.

China said exports plunged more than predicted last month, disappointing markets after a recent upbeat reading on factory activity. In yuan terms it snapped six straight months of increases. Imports also fell, confounding predictions for a rise.

"The drop in China's trade surplus, which included a surprise fall in imports, meant the basic resource sector which has a big exposure to Chinese commodity demand was dragging the UK equity benchmark lower," said CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler.

"Shares of Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were top fallers on Thursday, but are still up in a week that has seen domestically focused shares come under pressure because of the weaker pound.

The figures come just a week before the release of third-quarter growth data that are tipped to show the economic powerhouse and key driver to world trade growing at its slowest pace in a quarter of a century.

In Europe, "shares of Tesco and Unilever... both dropped as investors became alarmed over a dispute on prices", Lawler added.

- Store Wars -

A seemingly Brexit-fuelled spat between British supermarket giant Tesco and Dutch food and consumer goods multinational Unilever erupted on Thursday.

Unilever, which makes popular household brands like Marmite yeast extract spread, Flora margarine, PG Tips teabags and Persil washing powder, wanted major price hikes due to the Brexit-driven slump in sterling -- which it said has ramped up the cost of imported materials.

Tesco -- Britain's biggest retailer which faces intense price competition in its domestic supermarket sector -- has however refused to lift prices.

That prompted Unilever to halt deliveries to the company, sparking a shortage of its branded goods on the supermarket's shelves, while the hashtag #MarmiteGate trended on Twitter.

Tesco stock shed 2.1 percent to 196.9 pence, while Unilever shares slumped 3.4 percent to 39.34 euros in Amsterdam.

"The flare-up does show that pressures are building in the consumer sphere following the Brexit vote and they are likely to persist," warned City Index analyst Ken Odeluga.

"Unilever is legitimately trying to offset some of the revenue declines and input cost rises that are a direct consequence of sterling's collapse over the last few months.

"But Tesco is loath to put a 10-percent jump in Unilever product prices in front of its customers whilst a price war is raging with rivals."

Elswhere, Wall Street won support Wednesday after the Federal Reserve minutes showed last month's decision to hold rates was a "close call", suggesting they are likely to move in December at the latest.

- Key figures around 1330 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.2 percent at 6,942.02 points

Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 1.3 percent at 10,388.80

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.7 percent at 4,378.87

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.4 percent at 2,965.73

New York - DOW: DOWN 0.6 percent at 18,031.00

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.7 percent at 2,124.50

New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 0.7 percent to 5,200.59

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 16,774.24 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 1.6 percent at 23,031.30 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,061.35 (close)

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2199 from $1.2210

Euro/pound: UP at 90.40 pence from 90.15 pence

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1030 from $1.1007

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 103.64 yen from 104.23 yen

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 03 cents at $50.21 per barrel

Oil - Brent North Sea: UP 0.02 cents at $51.83