LONDON (Dow Jones) - European stocks slipped Friday after U.S. markets ended in the red, oil prices dipped and investors eyed earnings from Sweden's Ericsson and a resignation at U.K. caterer Compass.

Frankfurt's DAX Xetra index edged down 0.3% at 4,848, the Paris-based CAC-40 index declined 0.4% at 4,375 and London's FTSE 100 index edged down 0.4% at 5, 142.

The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 eased 0.4% at 283.46, with the oil and gas sector leading the way down as oil prices continued to hover below $60 a barrel.

U.S. markets added pressure after ending sharply lower on Thursday as a number of bellwether companies including Pfizer, eBay and McDonald's posted disappointing results.

Speaking about the market on Friday, Manus Cranny, a senior equities broker at Cantor Index, said: "It's a question of investors being quite shaken by yesterday's movement and really finding it difficult to find the confidence to re-enter the market this morning."

Turning to stocks news, Compass fell as much as 6.5% after the struggling U.K. caterer suspended a top executive as part of a previously disclosed United Nations corruption probe.

Ericsson (ERICY), the Swedish telecom-equipment maker was recently down 0.4%. It said third-quarter sales fell 6% sequentially and gross margins slipped below forecasts to 45.2%.

The company's net profit rose 23% to SEK5.3 billion, with sales climbing 14% to SEK36.2 billion and operating margins up to 21.6% from 20.7%. Ericsson sees moderate growth next year.

Also in Sweden, engineering company SAAB dipped 1.1% after it reiterated its full-year outlook for lower operating margins and adjusted income than was reported in 2004.

Third-quarter sales rose to SKr4 billion, from SKr3.7 billion a year ago, while net income increased to SKr245 million, from SKr177 million last year.

On the plus side, PartyGaming, the online poker operator, bounced back from recent losses in London , up 10.3%. Its third-quarter performance met forecasts, and it reiterated current-year forecasts.

French auto-parts supplier Valeo SA added 1.9% after it said third-quarter sales rose 10.8% to 2.356 billion euros . Valeo sees a slight increase in automobile production in Europe in the fourth quarter

The company's third-quarter net income fell 21.1% to 30 million euros on a doubling of the interest charge to 16 million euros .

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-21-05 0700ET Copyright (c) 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Copyright (C) 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.