London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 0.14 percent to 5,956.98 points and the Paris the CAC 40 dropped 0.37 percent to 4,044.56.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 edged down fractionally to 7,155.58 points after closing Thursday at the highest level since May 2009.

Madrid's IBEX 35 lost 0.23 percent shortly after the open to 10,803 points, as official data showed Spain's jobless rate surged to 20.33 percent at the end of 2010, the highest in more than 13 years for the highly indebted nation.

Markets will later pore over the first official estimate of US gross domestic product (GDP) for the fourth quarter of last year, due at 1330 GMT.