Bookies see major European indexes down

Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:15am BST

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LONDON (Reuters) - Major European indexes are set to open lower on Friday, tracking falls in the U.S. and Asian markets after weak U.S. housing and jobs data reignited concerns about the state of the global economy, financial bookmakers said.

Financial spreadbetters expected the FTSE 100 .FTSE to open down 38 to 49 points, or as much as 0.9 percent, Germany's DAX .GDAXI to trade down 59 to 67 points in the open, or as much as 1 percent, and France's CAC-40 .FCHI to be 35 to 38 points lower, or as much as 0.9 percent.

The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European companies closed down 1.5 percent on Thursday.

(Reporting by Dominic Lau)

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