European equities were down from the open, as London lost 1.27 percent, Frankfurt fell 1.07 percent and Paris shed 1.95 percent. In Asia Tokyo closed down 2.04 percent to reach its lowest level since November. The European Central Bank made unexpectedly big special loans to help banks pay off the record one-year borrowing just before Thursday's deadline to repay the 442 billion euros, with Eurozone banks asking for 111.2 billion euros (136.7 billion dollars) in six-day loans.
In all 78 banks asked for funds, a day after 171 banks borrowed 131.9 billion euros for three months in an operation that initially eased market worries over a credit squeeze that might hamper a eurozone economic recovery.
Attention will now turn to the release later this month of bank stress tests designed to determine if they can withstand exceptional shocks like defaults by major borrowers. The loans have added to wider fears for the health of the eurozone, battered by Greece's debt woes and the threat of contagion to other European Union nations. Madrid tumbled by more than 3.0 percent after international ratings agency Moody's put Spanish government debt on review for a possible downgrade late on Wednesday.