European stocks fell on Monday as fears over slowing growth in the US continued to be felt following Friday's lower-than-expected gross domestic product data from the world's largest economy.

By mid morning, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.7 per cent to 1,439.74, Frankfurt's Xetra Dax fell 0.7 per cent to 6,218.24, the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.9 per cent to 5,349.35, and London's FTSE 100 lost 0.6 per cent to 6,124.5.

Wall Street fell on Friday following the unexpectedly weak third-quarter GDP numbers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.6 per cent to 12,090.26, while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.2 per cent lower at 2,350.62.

Back in Europe, carmakers were weaker as Germany's Volkswagen attracted differing broker views following its forecast-beating results released on Friday.

Sal Oppenheim downgraded the stock from "buy" to "neutral", saying that despite the better results, it did not see "a major trigger driving the shares to new top levels". WestLB cut its rating from "hold" to "reduce" also doubting the prospect of further positive surprises.

In spite of target price increases from Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and UBS, VW shares were down 2.4 per cent to EU76.79.

Other stocks in the sector fell. BMW shed 2.1 per cent to EU44.27, while Renault lost 1.1 per cent to EU89.90 and Porsche lost 1.9 per cent to EU896.30.

Eiffage, the French construction and concessions group, was the worst performing stock on the Eurofirst 300. It fell 4.5 per cent to EU70.80 after Spanish constructor OHL denied rumours the two companies were in talks to form an alliance.

Austria's Erste Bank fell 3.3 per cent to EU52.11 after it reported a 16 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit that fell shy of expectations. Eastern Europe's second-biggest lender said trading income fell 22 per cent, while a one-off charge also weighed.

Raiffeisen International, Erste's main competitor in eastern Europe, fell 2.4 per cent to EU88.09.

ABN Amro, the Dutch bank, fell 1.6 per cent to EU22.64 after announcing a 5.6 per cent fall in third-quarter net profit. The bank capped its losses however, as it announced it was to accelerate its restructuring process, including the loss of 500 head office jobs as it seeks to fully integrate Banca Antonveneta, the Italian bank it acquired last year.

Italian bank Capitalia was top gainer, up 1.1 per cent to EU6.74, on rumours Spain's Santander was considering a bid. Santander denied the report, published in Spain's La Repubblica.

Hennes & Mauritz, the Swedish fashion group, gained 1 per cent to SKr312 after Morgan Stanley raised its price target from SKr335 to SKr375. The move reflected the company's new initiatives, "namely international expansion, home shopping, shoes and a new higher-priced former," the broker said.

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