LONDON (AFP) - European stock markets eked out modest gains as oil prices eased off record highs and dealers hoped for a rise in US employment, though terrorism worries weighed on sentiment.
The London FTSE 100 index climbed by 0.46 percent to 4,720.30 points, the Frankfurt DAX 30 gained 0.41 percent to 4,059.77 points and the Paris CAC 40 advanced 0.20 percent to 3,766.09 points.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares rose 0.22 percent to 2,840.74 points.
The euro stood at 1.2328 dollars.
Travel and tourism shares were hit by a series of car bombs at resorts packed with Israeli holidaymakers on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, killing at least 24 in attacks Israel blamed on Al-Qaeda
In Paris 10 people were lightly injured when a bomb exploded outside the Indonesian embassy.
Travel and tourism shares were stung by the bombings and record high oil prices.
In Frankfurt German carrier Lufthansa fell by 2.65 percent to 9.56 euros, while tour operator TUI lost 0.83 percent to 15.58 euros.
"Lufthansa and TUI will be affected by the bombings in Egypt and Paris, as both are popular tourist destinations," said one dealer, shortly before trading got underway.
British Airways fell 1.44 percent to 205.75 pence in London while Air France-KLM retreated 1.24 percent to 12.72 euros in Paris.
In New York on Thursday, shares were hit by a slide in major pharmacutical stocks on drug safety concerns, and by a new high for oil and sluggish retail sales data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.12 percent to 10,125.40 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite shed 1.14 percent to 1,948.52.
The broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index retreated 1.00 percent to close at 1,130.65 points.
New York's main crude contract jumped to a record closing price of 52.67 dollars a barrel after trading at 53 dollars for the first time as fears rose for heating oil supplies in the US winter.
However on Friday, US crude oil futures fell 62 cents to 52.05 dollars a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as traders locked in profits.
Stock market dealers were gearing up for the release of key US employment figures later Friday.
Economists were expecting the employment report to show September non-farm payrolls increasing by 146,000, after a 144,000 rise in the previous month, with the unemployment rate forecast to be unchanged at 5.4 percent.