European share indexes opened steady on Friday as strong results from German steelmakers ThyssenKrupp and Salzgitter helped offset a new record peak in crude prices. Shares in British Airways were 1.8 percent lower as the affects of the high oil price were compounded by the airline cancelling all its flights from London's Heathrow airport on Thursday at the peak of its summer holiday season. Some 20,000 passengers were stranded following a series of wildcat strikes, Reuters reported. By 0707 GMT the FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips was 0.1 percent firmer at 1,197 points while the narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.1 percent to 3,351.8 points. U.S. light crude extended its climb to $66.11 a barrel as robust U.S. economic growth keeps refinery capacity stretched and Iran's nuclear programme rattles nerves.
