European shares ease back after rollercoaster week

European equities eased back on Friday, having already recouped all their losses from a bruising 8 percent correction earlier this week, with markets cooling off slightly despite hopes for more easy central bank policy, according to Reuters.

Fears of a slowdown in global economic growth have sparked big price swings across equities, currencies and commodities this week. These fears have yet to leave the market, traders and strategists said, even if loose monetary policy is expected to support stock prices.

'The problems have not gone away...The movement of currencies is still bubbling away underneath,' said Paul Chesterton, a trader at brokerage Peregrine & Black. 'It's a little bit of a reality check after the strong recovery.'

French producer prices fell 0.1 percent in July from June, while consumer prices in the German state of Saxony fell in August by 0.1 percent month-on-month. Some economists expect further policy steps from the European Central Bank, which holds a governing council meeting next week.

The FTSEurofirst 300 was down 0.6 percent, falling slightly below its closing level last Friday but still broadly flat on the week.