NEW YORK - Global stocks dipped following lackluster American, British and French economic growth data, as worries about North Korea and other geopolitical hotspots weighed on investor sentiment.

Analysts said traders were edgy about North Korea after President Donald Trump was quoted as saying there was "a chance" of "a major, major conflict" with the country. Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, said investors were reluctant to commit additional funds ahead of the weekend, much like last week, when skittishness ahead of the French presidential election depressed equities.

"It's very typical of the last three or four weeks. Friday afternoon seems to be the unwind day," he said. "By that, I mean no one wants to take a big bet when you're heading into the weekend." US economic growth in the first quarter came in its lowest in three years at just 0.7 percent, according to preliminary government data, well below analyst expectations for 1.1 percent GDP growth.

Britain's economic growth slowed in the first quarter to just 0.3 percent, the weakest pace in a year, as the country prepares for a general election ahead of its planned exit from the EU. "With high inflation and slumping consumer demand, there is much to worry about with the UK economy at present," said David Lamb, head of dealing at FEXCO Corporate Payments.

In France, growth also came in at 0.3 percent, slower than the 0.5 percent recorded in the preceding three months. The data are being closely watched ahead of the second round of the French presidential election next weekend, between pro-EU, market-friendly centrist Emmanuel Macron and anti-EU, anti-immigration, far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen.

The declines in equity markets on the final day of the week were modest, with leading indices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo falling between 0.1 percent and 0.5 percent. US corporate earnings were mostly solid. An outperformer was Google parent Alphabet, which jumped 3.7 percent after reporting a 29 percent jump in quarterly profit to $5.4 billion. Ad revenues rose and did not appear to show any effects from an ad boycott of YouTube earlier this year after revelations that ads were placed alongside videos showing hateful content.

But British banking giant Barclays fell 5.2 percent after first-quarter net profits sank by more than half on a large impairment at its Africa division.