Oil and gas producers declined on a 4% drop in crude prices overnight. Austrian OMV was down 2.4%, Total in France slipped 1.8%, while Repsol of Spain was 1.5% lower.

Carmakers were hit after sales in US fell last month. Volkswagen AG and DaimlerChrysler AG declined as shares of Volkswagen fell 1.4% and DaimlerChrysler, shed 1%. BMW dropped 1.8%. The biggest luxury carmaker in the world had the recommendation on its stock cut to hold from buy at Citigroup Investment Research.

Advancers

Akzo Nobel NV gained 2.3%. The Dutch chemicals maker announced an initial public offering of its pharmaceutical unit Organon is still the preferred option after a newspaper reported today that the company is in talks with at least two private equity firms about the sale of Organon. Carnival Plc, a cruise-ship operator, gained 2.5% as Morgan Stanley raised its share-price forecast on the stock with 15%.

Oil and gold

Crude oil for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined $2.73 from settlement price on Friday to a six-week low of $58.32 a barrel. Gold traded in London at $625.25 per troy ounce, down from $635.25 late Wednesday.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar rose against other major currencies in European trading Thursday morning. The euro traded at $1.3101, down from $1.3165 late Wednesday in New York. The British pound traded at $1.9430, down from $1.9505. The dollar bought 119.37 Japanese yen, up from 119.35.