All eyes are on the upcoming US jobs report, a key barometer for future market trends. New claims are expected to rise to 240,000 for the week ending August 3, down from 249,000 the previous week. This data will be pivotal in gauging the US economic outlook amid persistent recession fears.

London's FTSE 100 index opened lower on Thursday, shedding 1.0%. European markets mirrored this trend, with the CAC 40 in Paris down 1.1% and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt down 0.4%. Across the pond, Wall Street closed in the red on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.1%.

In corporate news, Beazley stole the spotlight, soaring 13% after reporting a record pretax profit of USD 728.9 million for the first half of the year, up from USD 366.4 million a year ago. Entain also impressed, rising 7.7% following a 6.0% increase in revenue to £2.52 billion and an upgraded annual forecast.

However, Barratt Developments and Redrow dipped 2% and 1.8%, respectively, due to competition concerns flagged by the UK Competition & Markets Authority regarding their merger. Precious metal miners also led the declines, with Fresnillo trading without dividend entitlement. Heavyweights like AstraZeneca, BP Plc, Natwest, and Standard Chartered also traded ex-dividend, adding to the market's overall slump.

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