European shares ended weaker on Friday, retreating for the 12th time over the past 13 sessions to hit their lowest close in six years, dragged down by financials as fears of more hefty losses in the sector deepened. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares ended down 0.3 percent at 760.54 points falling to its lowest close since April 2003. Banks took the most points off the index. Barclays (BARC.L) fell 13.5 percent as concerns grew that the bank may require further capital or be nationalised. [ID:nLN228875] "Sentiment is very fragile. People want to believe in economic recovery and want to see some light at the end of the tunnel, but they are finding it very difficult to see that when you have got a banking system which is still experiencing severe difficulties," said Darren Winder, strategist at Cazenove. "Until they get the banking system into a situation where it can fulfill its normal obligations to the real economy and provide it with sufficient liquidity and credit, then I think people are generally going to continue to feel very nervous about the market," Winder said. BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Standard Chartered (STAN.L) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) were down 5.75 percent to 7.8 percent. Insurers were in the doldrums. Swiss Re (RUKN.VX) lost 19.2 percent on worries it could make further writedowns when it reports full-year results on Feb. 19. "Swiss Re is coming under pressure because of fears its has critical amounts of CDS (credit default swaps) on its balance sheet and that its hedges might not work," a trader said. A Swiss Re spokeswoman said the company did not comment on market rumours. German chemical group Wacker Chemie (WCHG.DE) fell 4.8 percent following a gloomy outlook from U.S. peer MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR.N) which forecast weak first-quarter revenue. Across Europe, the FTSE 100 .FTSE index was up 0.01 percent, Germany's DAX .GDAXI was down 1 percent and France's CAC 40 .FCHI was down 0.7 percent.

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