European shares fell on Friday after a rise in Chinese bank reserve requirements intensified concerns about the prospects for global growth, with mining stocks among the worst performers.
By noon, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 0.8% at 1,148.20 point after falling 0.6% in the previous session following a 28-month high on Wednesday.
"I think the market is still consolidating after strong gains earlier in the week. The Chinese bank reserve tightening is just an excuse for profit taking," Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin, said.
"Overall, fundamentals look solid and corporates look like they will deliver decent revenue and topline growth. I do not think the selling will last too long."
JPMorgan Chase & Co's quarterly profit jumped 47% and its chief executive Jamie Dimon said there were signs of stability and growth returning to the U.S. economy.
However, the market continued to extend losses from the morning session when China raised lenders' required reserves by 50 basis points, heightening concerns economic growth could slow in the region.
The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index was down 2.4%, while Anglo American, Xstrata and Rio Tinto fell 2.2 to 3.9%.
Elsewhere, Sanofi-Aventis slipped 1.6%, following a report that two patients suffered liver failure after taking the company's heart drug Multaq.
The company later confirmed two cases of acute liver failure requiring transplants in patients treated with Multaq.
ARM JUMPS
ARM Holdings jumped 6.8%, boosted by better than expected fourth-quarter earnings from sector bellwether Intel Corp, the world's largest chipmaker. "Intel's numbers beat most expectations by around 10 %and so we are seeing investors connect the dots from Intel's earnings to other similar tech stocks trading in Europe to which this may paint a similarly rosy picture," Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index, said.
Carrefour rose 0.7% after the fourth quarter sales of Europe's top retailer edged ahead of expectations.
Later in the session, the market will focus on the U.S. consumer price index and December retail sales as well as the Reuters/University of Michigan sentiment data.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 1.1%, Germany's DAX was 0.5% lower and France's CAC 40 was down 0.3%.
