European stock markets slid Wednesday, with investors spooked over a deadly missile blast in Poland near the border with Ukraine. London dipped 0.1 percent, also on news that UK inflation spiked to a 41-year peak in October on rocketing energy bills and food prices. Frankfurt fell 0.9 percent and Paris stocks sank 0.5 percent after Asia closed mostly in the red. The dollar fell against the euro and pound but rose against the yen, while oil advanced. “Fears that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate after a Russian missile appeared to hit a village in Poland, a NATO member country, have held back gains on global markets,” said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter. “There will be reassurance in words from (US President) Joe Biden that it was ‘unlikely’ to have come from Russia,” she added. The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of a deadly blast in Poland, with Belgium saying it was probably caused by Kyiv’s air defences firing at Moscow’s incoming missiles. Back in Britain, official data showed that UK inflation surged in October to 11.1 percent, the highest level since 1981 in a worsening cost-of-living crisis. The grim news came on the eve of a gloomy UK government budget that is likely to ramp up taxes and slash spending.