Martin Oeser | AFP | Getty Images
Traders sit in front of their screens at the stock exchange in Frankfurt/Munich, western Germany.
Traders will keep a close eye on developments in Saudi Arabia Friday when a "day of rage"is expected to take place, with protesters demanding an elected ruler, greater freedom for women and the release of political prisoners.
The top OPEC producer holds more than a fifth of world's oil reserves and unrest in the country is likely to send oil prices higher and stocks lower.
European sovereign debt will also be on investors' radars at the end of a week which saw several more downgradesfor peripheral European countries struggling with high debt levels.
Euro zone leaders meet in Brussels Friday to discuss the bloc's debt crisis amid continuing fears over the health of the Spanish, Portuguese, Greek and Irish economies.
They will also discuss an overhaul of the EU emergency fund, which is expected to be high on the agenda at the March 24-25 gathering of all EU leaders.
The heads of state are also expected to discuss the situation in Libya.
NATO defense ministers also meet for a second day in Brussels to discuss the organization's response to the violence in Libya.
Later in the day, tech investors will be on the lookout for details on sales of Apple's new iPad 2which is available in the US from Friday.
The original iPad tablet device launched last year and has sold 15 million units so far, but this new version is thinner and lighter, and has a faster processor as well as front and rear cameras. The iPad 2 goes on sale in the UK on March 25.
