At the end of what has been a good week so far, the Dax has lost its feathers again. Also burdened by a renewed profit warning from Adidas, the leading German index was down 0.93 percent in early trading at 12,649.17 points. The weekly plus melted from around 4 percent at times to currently 1.7 percent.

The MDax fell 1.02 percent on Friday to 23,035.64 points, while the EuroStoxx lost 1.2 percent in value.

"Following the small signs of hope at the beginning of the week, the market has returned to its currently normal course," wrote the experts at Bankhaus Metzler in the morning. With the economic agenda virtually empty on both sides of the Atlantic today, investors could already start thinking about direction for the new trading week. Then the next interest rate decision by the ECB on Thursday will be the big highlight for investors.