EUROPE STOCK EXCHANGE: European shares closed lower, weighed by telecoms and oil-sensitive airlines, but late-session gains from technology blue chips such as Alcatel helped equity markets trim losses. Alcatel added 2.7 percent after a key deal between the French telecom equipment maker and US software giant Microsoft to develop Internet television services.
A note from Smith Barney raising its sector weighting on technology hardware and equipment to "marketweight" from "underweight", and that on chip makers and chip equipment groups to "overweight" from "marketweight" also helped.
FRANKFURT STOCK EXCHANGE: The DAX index ended at 4,323.21 points, down 30.13 or 0.69 percent.
PARIS STOCK EXCHANGE: The CAC-40 index closed at 4,002.33 points, down 20.29 or 0.50 percent.
ZURICH STOCK EXCHANGE: The Swiss market index closed at 5,911.5 points, down 16.5 or 0.28 percent.
MILAN STOCK EXCHANGE: The All Share Mibtel index closed at 24,102 points, down 160 or 0.66 percent.
SYDNEY STOCK EXCHANGE: Australian stocks' finished near session lows as fund managers lightened portfolios, joining investors who sold stock on the back of a mixed bag of earnings in the final week of results season. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 14.9 points, or 0.36 percent, to 4,153.3.
JOHANNESBURG STOCK EXCHANGE: South African stocks slipped as a robust rand knocked mining stocks, but iron ore producer Kumba bucked the trend, soaring to a record high after huge price increases were agreed in Japan. The All-share index closed at 13,250.01 points, down 96.38 or 0.72 percent. The All Gold index closed at 1,605.6 points, down 25.45 or 1.56 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 9,792.59 points, down 23.58 or 0.24 percent.