London- European shares erased earlier gains to trade flat in thin trade on Friday as investors awaited a batch of US economic data later in the session.
The FTSEurofirst 300 was trading at 1,173.95 by 12:12 SA time.
Trade was light, at just 28 percent of the 90-day daily average, exaggerating market moves.
Investors were waiting for US May inflation figures due at 14:30 SA time and sentiment data at 15:55 SA time which could provide fresh clues as to future stimulus measures from the US Federal Reserve, ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting on June 18-19.
“It's just typical intra-day volatility that we've seen this week... I think it's all eyes on the Fed meeting next week,” Matt Basi, sales trader at CMC Markets, said.
“Into that we could be swinging back and forth in the last seven days' trading pattern - from 1,197-1,154. That said, volumes are really starting to dry up now for the summer so it's not going to take a huge amount of effort to move us out of that range.” - Reuters