VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - French shares fell slightly on Friday after a powerful earthquake struck southwestern Japan and official data showed China's economy grew at its slowest pace in seven years during the first quarter.
Closer home, data released by Eurostat showed that the euro zone's trade surplus shrank in February to reach its lowest level in four months, as imports rose more rapidly than exports.
Investors look ahead to the outcome of spring meetings of the World Bank and the IMF opening today and a key oil summit this weekend.
The benchmark CAC 40 was down 18 points or 0.41 percent at 4,492 in midday trading after gaining half a percent the previous day.
Car parts maker Faurecia slumped 4.5 percent after reporting sluggish first-quarter growth and reiterating its forecast of 1-3 percent sales growth for 2016.
Carrefour shares climbed 4 percent as the supermarket chain reported higher quarterly sales, reflecting robust sales in Brazil, Spain and Italy.
Utility EDF rallied 2.5 percent, a day after extending the outage period of its Paluel 2 nuclear reactor to March 2017.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX