Uncertainty on company earnings and economic recovery prospects hobbled shares on Friday, while the dollar rose against a basket of major currencies.
Wall Street looked set for a poor start. Oil dropped below $60 a barrel.
European shares fell with the FTSEurofirst 300 down three quarters of a percent. Japanese's shares early closed a touch lower for the eighth consecutive day of declines.
A downbeat earnings outlook from oil major Chevron Corp after the Wall Street close on Thursday weighed on sentiment, flipping the boost gained on Thursday from aluminium giant Alcoa's better-than-forecast results.
With the summer holidays kicking off in the northern hemisphere and the second-quarter earnings season beginning, market and fund flows suggested many investors were heading to the sidelines, according to fund tracker EPFR Global said.
Stocks globally enjoyed a powerful rally in the second quarter but have since run out of steam.
"There is a lack of impulse, full stop," said Giuseppe-Guido Amato, strategist at brokerage Lang & Schwarz in Germany.
Chevron Corp said late on Thursday that second-quarter earnings would be hit by a sharp decline in U.S. refining margins, sending its shares down in extended trading.
Its shares in Frankfurt were down 1.3 percent.
Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index was down 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX index slipped 0.7 percent and France's CAC 40 eased 0.7 percent.
DOLLAR RECOVERS
The dollar rose broadly and the yen hovered near the week's peaks against other major currencies on investor caution related to the start of U.S. corporate earnings season.
It lost more than three quarters of a percent against the dollar to $1.3915. The dollar, meanwhile, lost 0.4 percent to 92.55 yen.
"The U.S. dollar and particularly the yen were the clear winners this week, with a much more negative equity market sentiment triggering flight to quality trades," Brown Brothers Harriman said in a note.
Euro zone government bond futures were firmer. The September Bund future was up one tick on the day at 122.07. The interest rate-sensitive two-year Schatz yield was at 1.211 percent.
