LONDON (CNN) - Europe's major bourses ended lower on Friday in light trading, influenced by the upcoming holiday weekend on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and after a downbeat opening on Wall Street.
London's FTSE 100 fell 0.4 percent at the close to 5,889.8, with a broad range of stocks on the slide by more than 2 percent. Leading the retreat were shares of mining group Anglo American (AAL), which was hit by profit taking, and network operator COLT Telecom (CTM).
The exchanges in London and New York will be closed on Monday because of a public holiday, while many traders in mainland Europe had taken a long weekend because of Thursday's Ascension Day holiday.
In Paris, the CAC 40 blue chip index dropped 1.3 percent to reach 5,581.94, as telecom equipment maker Alcatel (PCGE) declined 6.9 percent on continuing speculation it is close to buying Lucent Technologies (LU: Research, Estimates) of the United States in an all-stock deal.
Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax declined 0.8 percent in late trading to 6,227.8. Deutsche Bank (FDTE), airline Deutsche Lufthansa (FLHA), and multi-utility E.ON (FEOA) fell more than 2 percent.
In Amsterdam the AEX index fell 1.2 percent and Milan's MIB30 index dipped 1.4 percent, while the SMI in Zurich was down 0.4 percent.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was down half a percent, with its information technology sub-index down 2.4 percent.
Europe was still worried about the length of the American economic slowdown. On Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that the world's biggest economy may slow further.
In a speech to the Economic Club of New York, Greenspan said the aggressive interest rate cuts the Fed has already made this year should offer the economy "substantial" support by year end.
"The good news is more rate cuts are on the way," Stephen King, chief economist at HSBC, told CNN. "The bad news is the economy is weaker and that will put pressure on earnings."
The Nasdaq composite index fell 1.3 percent in morning trading in New York to 2,253.26, while the Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.7 percent at 11,041.94.
In the currency market, the euro was little changed against the U.S. dollar, fetching 85.67 cents from 85.64 cents late Thursday.
In London, Railtrack (RTK), Britain's rail network operator, slumped for a second day, and was down 6.6 percent as the worst-performing share. The company reported losses of more than half a billion pounds on Thursday and said it would raise £4 billion ($5.4 billion) from the debt markets to modernize Britain's aging railways.
British Telecom (BT-A) enjoyed a rare good day, rising 3.5 percent on news that it may be about to reduce its debt burden with the sale of its directory business Yell for £2 billion.
Among the small caps, European online auctioneer QXL Ricardo (QXL) rose an astonishing 65 percent on news of narrowing losses and an alliance with Microsoft.
French aerospace and defense group EADS (PEAD) fell 3.4 percent after reports said rival BAE Systems (BA-) was the only bidder for a $2.8 billion Czech fighter plane contract.
BNP Paribas (PBNP), France's biggest bank, fell 1.7 percent on reports it had pulled out of talks to buy a stake in Singapore's Overseas Union Bank due to regulatory concerns.
In Frankfurt, Volkswagen (VOW) was 0.3 percent higher after the Wall Street Journal reported it may spin off its Audi brand. 
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