European stock markets fell on Friday on weak US earnings, while the euro slid against the dollar as Spain said its unemployment rate had reached 25 percent for the first time, traders said.
London's FTSE 100 index of top companies fell by 0.86 percent to stand at 5,804.94 points in early afternoon deals.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 slipped 0.58 percent to 7,158.49 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.50 percent to 3,394.34.
Madrid's IBEX 35 tumbled 1.10 percent to 7,693.50 points.
In foreign exchange trading, the euro dipped to $1.2895 from $1.2930 late in New York on Thursday.
On the London Bullion Market, gold prices dropped to $1,703 an ounce from $1,715.50 an ounce on Thursday.
"The markets in Europe are deep into red in Europe... affected by very disappointing earnings data from the US," said Gekko Global Markets trader Anita Paluch.
"Although today's macro data from Spain and news out of Greece put the EU debt crisis back on the table, the investors will be looking at the US third-quarter GDP results due to be published later today."
Official data from Spain showed that its jobless rate broke the 25-percent barrier for the first time as austerity cuts squeezed the recession-struck economy.
Tens of thousands of jobs were destroyed in the third quarter, even as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government raised taxes, cut spending and pondered whether to snatch a eurozone rescue line.
The unemployment rate rose to 25.02 percent in the third quarter from 24.63 percent in the previous three months, a National Statistic Institute report showed.
Among workers aged 16-24 the jobless rate towered at 52.34 percent in the third quarter, only slightly down from 53.27 percent in the previous quarter, the institute said.
Greece, the eurozone country with the biggest debt problem, said on Thursday that it would stand by extra reform efforts thrashed out with international creditors.
Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said the government was "pressing on" and that the new measures would be introduced in parliament next week.
The deal is required for Greece to meet demands by its EU-IMF creditors and unlock a 31.2 billion euro ($40.5 billion) installment of rescue loans.
Asian stock markets closed lower on Friday as dealers looked ahead to the release later in the day of US economic growth figures.
"Through the course of this week, equity markets have been on the defensive as a result of disappointing US earnings, mixed signals on the global economy and perhaps some investor uncertainty about the outcome of the US Presidential election on 6 November," said Neil MacKinnon, economist at financial group VTB Capital.
In Europe on Friday, shares in Anglo American jumped 1.99 percent to 1,894.5 pence after the global miner said that its first female chief executive Cynthia Carroll would step down for personal reasons.
The announcement of her decision to stand aside comes a day after Anglo American slashed its forecast for annual platinum production amid deadly strikes at the group's troubled South African operations.