European shares had a volatile session Friday as deal-related gains for BNP Paribas, Rio Tinto and Switzerland's Roche were balanced by continued fears over the economy as unemployment hit a two-year high.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index added 0.3% at 191.33.
France's BNP Paribas gained, adding 3% in Paris after agreeing a new deal to acquire parts of Fortis after the Belgian group's shareholders won a court battle to challenge an earlier deal.
Under the new deal, BNP will take a much smaller stake in Fortis' insurance business than originally planned. Shares in Fortis were suspended.
The French CAC 40 , however, dropped 0.5%, falling back below the 3,000 barrier at 2,991.82 after data revealed another rise in unemployment.
The European Union's Eurostat agency said unemployment in the euro area rose to 8% in December from 7.9% in November. The latest reading is a two-year high and compares to an unemployment level of 7.2% a year earlier.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.3% at 4,179.57 and the German DAX 30 lost 0.7% at 4,399.57.
U.S. markets fell heavily on Thursday after more weak economic data and a further round of job cuts. In other deal news, shares in Rio Tinto rose 3% after it restarted its stalled asset sales program with a $1.6 billion deal to offload a potash project in Argentina and an iron-ore facility in Brazil to Companhia Vale do Rio Doce Switzerland's Roche lowered its takeover offer for Genentech Inc. to $42.5 billion, or $86.50 a share, and took the offer direct to shareholders.
An earlier offer worth $89 a share was previously spurned by Genentech in the summer. Shares in Roche climbed 1.5%.
In earnings news, shares of Spain's Banco Popular fell 2.9% after it reported a 72% drop in fourth-quarter profit, missing market expectations due to soaring bad debt provisions.
In smaller deal news, fund manager Henderson Group agreed to buy struggling rival New Star Asset Management in a deal valuing the firm at 115 million pounds.
Shares in Henderson rose 21% and New Star shares gained around 3%
