Stock markets were mixed Thursday as investors weighed the latest volleys in the China-US trade war and strong tech earnings.

Nestle shares surged eight percent after the Swiss food giant announced that it will cut 16,000 jobs worldwide over the next two years.

Equities have largely been in flux since US President Donald Trump last week reignited his tariff row with Beijing, threatening 100 percent levies on Chinese goods in retaliation for its recent rare-earth export controls.

In Europe, the Paris stock market was up 0.7 percent in early afternoon trade as French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived a no-confidence vote.

London dipped following data that showed lacklustre growth in the UK economy, six weeks ahead of the government's annual budget.

That followed a largely positi

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