Trading volume was extremely light. In London, the FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell by 0.49 percent, or 32.3 points, in early trading to 6,464.3 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 index was showing a loss of 0.12 percent, or 7.56 points, at 6,516.1 points mid-morning but in Frankfurt, the DAX index opened 0.05 percent higher at 7,246.46 points. Dealers were waiting for the publication of US producer price data at 1230 GMT so as to try to better assess future movements in US interest rates.

Some economists were predicting another interest rate rise after the half-point tightening seen last month. Overnight in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 144.14 points, or 1.32 percent, led by Procter and Gamble shares, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq shed 13.70 points, or 0.36 percent. Procter and Gamble fell 6-1/8 dollars, a loss of 8.3 percent, to 56-3/4 after it announced the resignation of Chief executive officer Durk Jager and a downsizing of expected profits in the its fourth quarter, which ends this month.

The Asian markets lent little comfort to trade. Share prices in Tokyo slipped back 0.8 percent on disappointment that Japan's government failed to meet its economic growth target for the year to March. Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.5 percent in the fiscal year, just below the government's target of 0.6 percent, the Economic Planning Agency announced Friday. In contrast, bargain hunting lifted Hong Kong share prices by 1.5 percent. Technology shares in Europe were marked lower after the Nasdaq declines. London's techMARK 100 index fell by 22.70 points to 3,513.75 points. And in Frankfurt, the NEMAX 50 blue chip index fell by 44.54 points, or 0.67 percent, to 6,602.64 points.

Tokyo stocks fall
Share prices in Tokyo slipped back 0.8 percent Friday on disappointment that Japan's government failed to meet its economic growth target for the year to March, brokers said.

The key Nikkei-225 index fell 142.43 points to end at 16,861.91. Profits were taken on high-priced technology and telecommunications issues, but many other investors were sidelined ahead of the release of the US producer prices index later Friday, brokers said. Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.5 percent in the fiscal year, just below the government's target of 0.6 percent, the Economic Planning Agency announced Friday. It was the first time in three years that the world's second biggest economy has expanded.

"Although GDP posted positive growth in the fiscal year 1999, investors were disappointed by the fact that it failed to achieve the official target," said Hiroichi Nishi, senior market analyst at Nikko Securities. "Prior to the release of the GDP data, some private think-tanks predicted the Japanese economy could grow by 0.8 percent during the year, and the modest result triggered selling instead," Nishi said.

The Topix benchmark of all first-section issues, however, gained 0.64 points to 1,586.81. Turnover on the major board totalled an estimated 1.1 billion shares, up from the previous day's 712.85 million. "The market took a wait-and-see attitude, awaiting the producer prices index which is an essential indicator of inflation in the United States," said Nikko Securities Chief technical analyst Tatsuo Kurokawa.

But the market would be supported next week as new investment trusts were established, brokers said. As low- and medium-priced issues attracted buyers, advancing issues outnumbered losers by 697 to 541 while 165 other issues were unchanged.