European stocks were flat Friday amid what is likely to be low liquidity due to a shortened session on Wall Street after the Thanksgiving holiday.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.02 percent at the start of the session with several stocks in red.

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Banks' shares were leading the losses, dropping more than 0.3 percent in early trading. Italian banks were once again the worst performers on referendum jitters, falling more than 1 percent.

Goldman Sachs has re-rated the U.K. banking sector. It increased its price targets on RBS, Virgin Money, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group. The European Central Bank has said that the banking system in the euro area is pulling apart, which increases risks.

Health care stocks were outperforming the other sectors, going up by 0.7 percent. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. company Johnson & Johnson is considering a potential takeover of the Swiss biotech firm Actelion.

U.S. markets will re-open Friday but only for half day, continuing to limit the available amount of liquidity.

The Russian oil and gas firm Tatneft is reporting its latest earnings figures on Friday. Meanwhile, the European Union is considering a "post-Brexit transition deal" once Prime Minister Theresa May invokes "Article 50". According to Sky News, the EU wants a three-tier approach for the upcoming Brexit negotiations.

On the data front, the U.K. will see the release of its latest business sentiment and final gross domestic product (GDP) reading for the second quarter of this year at 9.30 a.m. London time.