By Sara Sjolin
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets stayed in negative territory in afternoon action on Thursday, after U.S. data showed retail sales rose less than forecast, while jobless claims from last week dropped to 343,000. The Stoxx Europe 600 index XX:SXXP -0.26% fell 0.3% to 279.68, close to where it stood ahead of the U.S. data releases. Germany's DAX 30 index DX:DAX -0.29% slumped 0.4% to 7,585.35, while France's CAC 40 index FR:PX1 -0.08% dropped 0.3% to 3,637.28. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index UK:UKX -0.22% lost 0.3% to 5,927.33.
