On Friday, European stock indices decline, as investors started to focus on the political meeting of European Central Bank next week amid speculation that the bank will announce additional stimulus measures.
During European morning trade, STOXX EURO 50 eased 0.26%, the French CAC 40 lost 0.39%, while the German DAX 30 fell 0.20%.
European shares strengthened after last Friday, ECB President, Mario Draghi, said the bank is ready for rapid actions to boost inflation in the Eurozone, and can also change the level of deposit rates to improve the effectiveness of quantitative easing.
Markets are still mixed after news that Turkey on Tuesday shot down a Russian military aircraft on the Syrian border, reinforcing fears about security in the region.
German Deutsche Bank (DE: DBKGn) and Commerzbank (DE: CBKG) increased by 0.02% and 0.01%, while French lenders BNP Paribas (PA: BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA: SOGN) gained 0.20% and 0.57%.
Among the peripheral lenders, Unicredit (MI: CRDI) weakened by 0.06%, Intesa Sanpaolo (MI: ISP) grew by 0.27%, while the Spanish Banco Santander (MC: SAN) and BBVA (MC: BBVA) weakened 0.21% and 0.38% respectively.
Shares of Volkswagen (DE: VOWG_p) collapsed 1.73%, after South Korea said about the need to recall 125 522 cars based on their own tests, which showed that the automaker has deliberately falsified emissions on diesel models with the old engine.
London's FTSE 100 dropped 0.38%, being under the sharp losses in the mining sector.
Shares of Rio Tinto (L: RIO) and Bhp Billiton (L: BLT) fell 1.85% and 2%, while shares of Fresnillo (L: FRES) fell 2.20%, and shares of Anglo American (L: AAL) fell 4.61%.
Rio Tinto has been the focus after news that it has received final approval to expand its coal mine in Australia.
The financial sector is stable or declining. Shares of Barclays (L: BARC) and Royal Bank of Scotland (L: RBS) fell 0.04% and 0.08%, while shares of HSBC Holdings (L: HSBA) weakened by 0.78%. Shares of Lloyds Banking (L: LLOY), on the other hand, rose 0.37%.
Meanwhile, shares of Inmarsat PLC (L: ISA) strengthened by 0.55% on recent news that the company has signed a strategic agreement with Marine Ericsson (ST: ERICAs) to facilitate the exchange of goods, logistics and operational data on ships, in order to optimize the network of sea supplies.
In the US, equity markets pointed to a stable trend. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.18%, S&P 500 fell 0.06%, while Nasdaq 100 futures reported a decrease of 0.01%.