Eurostocks Sink Early, Eye Post-September 11 Low
Vivendi Universal was among the top decliners, the media giant falling seven percent despite news of fresh moves to cut debt, Reuters reported.
Drugs Group Aztrazeneca dropped 2.6 percent after the U.S. food and drug administration deemed its drug Casodex "not approvable" for treatment of early stage prostate cancer.
Deutsche Telekom and France telecom hit new record lows.
By 0708 GMT, the FTSE Eurotop 300 index was off 1.12 percent at 1,040 points as three days of selling extended into a fourth.
The pullback remained broad, with declining issues outpacing advancers by a wide margin of six-to-one.
Media, healthcare, telecoms, energy, autos, insurers, banks and techs led the decliners.
The market was heading for its fifth down week in a row.
The Eurotop 300 closed at 1,051.98 points on Thursday, its weakest level since September 24 as the Pan-European Blue-Chip index eyes the multi-year September 21 intra-day low of 998.93.
Investors are braced for a possible rollercoaster ride due to the so-called triple-witching expiry of stock index options and futures on many European markets and on Wall Street that can generate huge market swings.
Many stocks were pressured by the sickly dollar which fell to two-year lows against the euro on Thursday as investors retreat from U.S. assets.
A weaker dollar makes European exports to the United States less competitive and dents revenues when translated into the single currency.
Rising tensions in the Middle East where Israeli armor rumbled into the West Bank city of Nablus before dawn on Friday, continued to unnerve investors.
U.S. companies continued to warn on earnings, with telecom software provider Amdocs cutting its profit outlook for the next two quarters due to the telecoms slump.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 1.36 percent at 9,431.77 points. The tech-studded Nasdaq composite shed 2.14 percent.