Paris - European stocks were slightly down around midday on Friday, taking a breather from their almost-uninterrupted rally since the start of the year, with energy and mining shares falling along with commodity prices.
Resource-related shares led the retreat, with French oil major Total down 2% and global miner Rio Tinto down 0.8%.
Spain's Sabadell fell for second day, after a source told Reuters the bank was considering a €1.5bn capital hike via a share issue to fund a bid for Britain's TSB , which was announced on Thursday.