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London - European stock markets fell on Friday as traders banked profits from the week's strong gains in response to positive US economic data and signs that the world's biggest economy could take time to wind down its stimulus programme.
Gold prices dropped under $1 200 an ounce for the first time in nearly three years.
London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares dropped 0.50% to stand at 6 212.29 points in afternoon trading.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 fell 0.96% to 7 914.03 points and in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.75% to 3 733.97 compared to Thursday's closing values.
Madrid's main index tumbled 1.25% and Milan slumped 1.41%.
"European markets seems to have been completely absent from global macro themes of late, complacent to tow the line of whatever is going on in the US and Asia," said Jonathan Sudaria, a dealer at Capital Spreads.
Asian stock markets mostly rose on Friday after a US Federal Reserve official moved to soothe fears the bank would wind up its stimulus programme too soon, although concerns over a weaker Chinese economy lingered, traders said.
In Tokyo, Japan's Nikkei index led the gains as the dollar edged back towards the 100 yen mark, helped by a better-than-expected batch of economic data.
