European stocks ended mixed on Friday, with French and Dutch markets cautious before EU referendums and UK markets toying with a key psychological barrier ahead of a holiday weekend.
The German DAX 30 index finished up 0.2 percent at 4,444.7, the French CAC 40 index lost 0.1 percent to 4,131.8 and the Dutch AEX index dropped 0.4 percent at 366.6. London's FTSE 100 index lost 0.2 percent at 4,986.3.
"We think that the [global] economic cycle is fairly much intact," said Richard Batty, global investment strategist at Standard Life Investments.
The euro added 0.5 percent to trade at US$1.2568 ahead of France's EU constitution referendum today. Dutch voters go to the polls on the constitution on June 1.
The technology sector lent support following gains in US technology stocks overnight that sent the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 1.9 percent.
Shares in New York Stock Exchange specialist firm Van der Moolen Holding ended up about 6 percent in Amsterdam after the company agreed to buy Curvalue Financial Services Group.
London markets were focusing on the banking sector, after Barclays said Thursday it's expecting higher bad-debt provisions this year and HSBC updated the market on Friday.
HSBC Holdings PLC shares slipped 0.2 percent after it said recent rises in UK interest rates and a slowing residential property market are affecting consumer confidence and levels of bad debt.
Irish telecom Eircom Group PLC dropped 3.7 percent after swinging to a pretax loss of 89 million euros (US$111 million) in fiscal 2005 from a profit of 52 million euros the previous year.
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