"The concern in recent days is that the US economy may contract too much, '' said Philippe Gijsels, senior equity strategist at Fortis Bank's private investment unit in Brussels, which manages $62bn.

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, and Siemens, Europe's biggest engineering company, paced declines among stocks that are the most sensitive to an economic slowdown. BP led oil producers lower as crude fell.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index slid 0.1% to 354.33 in five days, ending the longest winning streak since February. The Stoxx 50 lost 0.3% , and the Euro Stoxx 50, a gauge for the 12 nations using the euro, fell 0.7% percent.

Benchmarks declined in 11 of the 18 western European markets.

France's CAC 40 sank 1.1% , and Germany's DAX fell 0.3%. The UK's FTSE 100 lost 0.2%.

DaimlerChrysler bucked the trend, leading gains in automakers on speculation it may sell its unprofitable Chrysler unit. Credit Suisse Group rose after reporting earnings that topped expectations.

Stocks also gained on the final day of trading after a US government report showed US companies added more jobs than previously reported and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.4%, a five-year low. The Stoxx 600 rose 0.3% as did Stoxx 50, while the Euro Stoxx 50 added 0.4% that day.

Shares of Nokia lost 2.4% percent in the week, and Siemens slid 1.3%.

Technology and industrial companies are among the most effected by changes in economic cycles.

UBS dropped 5.3%, the biggest decline in threeand-a-half months.

The Swiss bank posted a 21% drop in third-quarter net income to 2.2bn Swiss francs, hurt by lower revenue from equities trading, falling short of analysts' 2.61 billion-franc median estimate.

British Airways sank 2.8% after Europe's thirdlargest airline said secondquarter profit unexpectedly fell as travel demand slowed after a plot to blow up as many as 10 planes was discovered. Net income dropped to £165m, missing analysts' estimates of £192m. The company also cut its full-year sales.

Optimism that profit growth will continue helped send the Stoxx 600 to a five-and-a-half-year high last month. Of the 23 Stoxx 50 members to report third-quarter earnings, 65.2% beat estimates. That is still below the 77.5% exceeding estimates with secondquarter earnings, which was the best in at least 11 quarters.