With little news to influence direction, some investors decided to take profits after recent rallies.

US stocks headed down

In New York, the benchmark Dow Jones headed lower within minutes of the opening bell after being buoyed all week by the US Federal Reserve Bank's decision to cut interest rates last Thursday.

Jim Benning, a trader at BT Brokerage said: "This is just a little rest. The market has been up for seven days in a row."

The Dow 20 points lower at 8,513 about 20 minutes after trade started.

While the Dow was down, share prices on the Nasdaq exchange, where a large number of high-technology stocks are traded, was little changed.

Europe cautious

The UK's FTSE 100 index also closed slightly down due to profit-taking.

It ended 12.8 points lower at 5,217.1 - having risen around 570 points in the past three weeks.

Slightly stronger-than-expected growth figures for the third quarter also prompted some selling amid fears that it may mean interest rates would not fall as quickly as hoped.

The week's gains were pared back slightly

One senior share dealer in London said: "It was always going to be a day of consolidation. Nobody wanted to push this market much higher ahead of the weekend."

The mood in Europe was hit by Thursday's decision by the Bundesbank not to cut German interest rates and by a poor performance in Tokyo overnight.

In Frankfurt, Germany's Dax index see-sawed up and down all day before eventually closing 31.31 points up thanks to an advance in chemical and steel stocks.

In Paris, profit-taking saw the Cac 40 fall 27.16 points to 3,393.76.

Tokyo

The mood in Tokyo was also more cautious than in recent sessions.

The week's gains were pared back slightly

Shares finished the week lower after a five-day rally that had taken the Nikkei index 10% higher.

The Nikkei fell 150.86 points or 1.1% to close at 14,144.70.

Profit-taking in shares of NTT DoCoMo, which made a strong debut on Thursday, served as a signal for selling elsewhere on the broad market.

DoCoMo, which closed up 19% from its initial public offer price on Thursday, slipped back Y200,000 to Y4.45m.