Chinese shares

KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, Germany's DAX fell 1.3 percent to 10,547, while Britain's FTSE slipped 0.6 percent to 6,363. The CAC40 in France was 1.3 percent lower at 4,821. Wall Street looked set for losses at the open too with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures down 0.7 percent.

CHINA CONCERS: Worries over China, the world's number 2 economy, were once again the catalyst for Thursday's declines. 

KEEPING SCORE: France's CAC 40 was up 0.3 percent to 5,171.76 and Germany's DAX rose by the same rate to 11,521.70. Britain's FTSE 100, however, shed 0.8 percent to 6,668.13 as a drop in commodity prices weighed on its many mining stocks. U.S. shares were set to recover from recent losses, with both the S&P 500 and Dow futures up 0.2 percent.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 25 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,656 as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose three points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,096 and the Nasdaq composite rose a point to 5,089.