AFP - Europe's main stock markets steadied on Friday one day after equities slumped on jitters regarding the economic outlook, traders said.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index edged up 0.05 percent to 5,270.13 points in late morning trade. Frankfurt's DAX 30 rose 0.10 percent to 5,707.43 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.05 percent to 3,761.95 approaching the half-way stage.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares dipped 0.03 percent to 2,859.36 points.

"The economic data this week has been mixed and while the markets look to be in a state of flux it would seem that economists are becoming more and more unsure about how the recovery will pan out," said Capital Spreads analyst Simon Denham.

US stocks slumped on Thursday on renewed jitters about the pace of economic recovery and following a downgrade of key American firms in the technology sector, traders said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.90 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 1.66 percent.

Asian markets meanwhile closed lower on Friday as investors followed the Wall Street tumble and as Japan declared it was in a state of deflation, or falling prices.

Tokyo lost 0.54 percent, Hong Kong 0.83 percent, Sydney 1.34 percent and Taipei shed one percent.

In Europe, the share price of Nokia was trading down 1.54 percent at 8.96 euros after the world's biggest mobile phone maker said it would shed about 330 jobs in Finland and Denmark as part of a streamlining of its research and development operations.

"The planned changes are expected to affect up to 230 employees at Nokia's Oulu site in Finland and approximately 100 employees at Nokia's Copenhagen site," the firm said in a statement,

It added it currently had some 17,000 employees in research and development, of which more than 2,000 were in Oulu and more than 1,000 in the Danish capital.

European stock markets had begun the week strongly, with London hitting a 2009 peak, as the heavyweight mining sector was boosted by rising metals prices.

Gold futures hit a record 1,152.85 dollars an ounce this week, buoyed by a weak US currency and recent central bank purchases of the precious metal.

A weak greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies, pushing up demand.