Live Markets-Lacklustre open

European shares have opened Thursday's trading on the back foot, following a weak handover from Asia, with the Nikkei and Kospi both falling sharply.

The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX is down about 0.5%, with major bourses in Frankfurt .GDAXI, Paris .FCHI and London .FTSE all down by over 0.5%.

That follows a soft session in Asia, where chip stocks are hitting a rough patch after a blistering rally. South Korea's Kospi dropped 6% on Thursday, taking it down 27% from its June peak. Japan's Nikkei 225 .N225 slid 2.8%.

Renewed missile strikes in the Middle East are not helping matters, with traffic transiting the Strait of Hormuz still just a fraction of what it was before the war.

In corporate news, Rotork shares ROR.L are up by 66% after the company agreed to be taken over by Switzerland's ABB ABBN.S, the latest British company to be snapped up by a foreign bidder.