European stock markets slid on Friday amid profit taking in the oil sector but managed to end off their lows as Wall Street rebounded from Thursday's sell-off, encouraged by Dell's quarterly figures and outlook.
The British FTSE 100 index fell by 0.61 percent to 4,301.5 points, the German DAX 30 dropped 0.30 percent to 3,646.99 and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.27 percent to 3,484.84.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares closed 0.21 percent lower at 2,583.27 points.
The euro stood at US$1.2356.
Meanwhile in Wall Street, at London's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 21.61 points higher at 9836.2, as strong numbers from computer manufacturer Dell offset weaker than expected US data.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for August fell to 94.0 from 96.7, against economist forecasts of a slight dip to 96.4.
Asian markets had ended the day in retreat. Tokyo's Nikkei-225 index fell 2.46 percent to 10,757.20 points, a three-month low pressured by weaker-than-expected Japanese growth data, dealers said. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.43 percent to 12,359.83.
In London, profit taking in oil stocks dragged the blue chips lower.
Shares in BP and Shell were among the biggest FTSE 100 fallers, down 2.06 percent at 487.25 pence and 1.14 percent at 390.5 pence, respectively, as traders gambled that tensions in the Iraqi city of Najaf would ease over the weekend.
Sentiment was also hit by the weak South African rand, which knocked back two FTSE 100 blue chips, and news that some staff at British Airways have voted to strike.
BA shares dropped 1.77 percent to 207.75.
Meanwhile, Thursday's surprise interest rate cut in South Africa had an impact on a number of blue-chip stocks.
South Africa's Reserve Bank lowered its repo rate by 50 basis points to 7.5 percent on Thursday, sparking a fall in the value of the rand. The weaker rand knocked SABMiller shares 1.65 percent lower to 657.
Investec maintained its 'hold' recommendation on SABmiller, noting that every three percent fall in value of the rand leads to a one percent drop in its estimates.
In Frankfurt, TUI soared by 7.16 percent to 15.11 euros as sources said that WestLB had recently been approached by several US funds who have expressed interest in the bank's 31 percent stake in the tourism giant.
In Paris, news of weak second-quarter growth figures in Japan, a key market for the luxury sector, sent LVMH shares 1.07 percent lower to 50.95 euros.
Dealers said the reassuring figures from Dell prompted some strong gains across the French techs sector.
Alcatel closed up 1.01 percent at 9.04 euros and STMicroelectronics gained 1.17 percent at 13.88.
Elsewhere in Europe, the Swiss SMI index shed 0.86 percent to 5,309.8 points.
The Amsterdam AEX slipped 0.29 percent to 310.68 points, the Brussels Bel-20 fell 0.58 percent to 2,453.52, the Madrid Ibex-35 dropped 0.61 percent to 7,578.0 and the Milan MIB30 edged down 0.11 percent to 26,346.0.
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