Investors, looking ahead to the upcoming meetings of major central banks, largely stayed cautious and refrained from making significant moves.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.17%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.23% and 0.2%, respectively, while Germany's DAX edged up 0.02%. Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.05%.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Russia ended weak.
Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher, while Austria, Iceland and Spain settled flat.
In the UK market, Haleon climbed nearly 3.5%. Rio Tinto ended nearly 3% up. Fresnillo, Pershing Square Holdings, Antofagasta and Glencore gained 1.5 to 2.3%.
Hargreaves Lansdown gained nearly 1.5% after announcing the appointment of Dan Olley as Chief Executive Officer to succeed Chris Hill.
Frasers Group shares tumbled 9% despite posting a jump in sales and profits for the past six months. ICP ended nearly 5% down, while BT Group and Airtel Africa lost 3 to 3.7%.
British American Tobacco shares declined sharply after it forecast revenue growth between 2% and 4% at constant currency rates for the year ending December 31.
In Paris, Stellantis, Teleperformance, Sanofi, Alstom, Danone, Engie and Publicis Groupe ended lower by 1 to 2%.
STMicroElectronics rallied 2.3%. ArcelorMittal also advanced more than 2%. Airbus Group, Thales andWorldLine gained 1.6 to 1.8%. Unibail Rodamco, LVMH, TotalEnergies and Safran also posted notable gains.
In the German market, BMW drifted down more than 2%. Volkswagen, Porsche Automobil, Deutsche Post, RWE and BASF also ended weak.
Deutsche Wohnen surged 2.6% and Infineon Technologies gained about 2.2%. MTU Aero Engines, Continental, Fresenius, Puma and Vonovia also ended notably higher.
In economic news, labor shortage and economic uncertainty once again dragged permanent job placements in the UK, and rising inflation coupled with competition for workers continued to send the starting salaries higher, a survey report compiled by S&P Global showed Thursday, vindicating the tightness of the labor market.
Results of a survey showed that the self-employed in Germany remained pessimistic in November due to major concerns about their survival amid the risk of a recession in the biggest euro area economy.
The Jimdo-ifo Business Climate Index for the Self-Employed rose to minus 21.6 points, from minus 25.0 points in October.
