UPDATE 2-European shares end whipsaw session lower on tech rout

* Spain's Caixabank, Bankia surge on merger talks
* Tech stocks underperfrom peers for the week
* Real Estate stocks among the worst performers
* STOXX 600 sheds about 1.9% for the week

(Adds details, updates to market close)
By Ambar Warrick
Sept 4 (Reuters) - European shares ended lower in a wild
trading session on Friday as technology stocks tracked losses on
Wall Street, while merger talks between two major Spanish
lenders lifted the banking index.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX settled 1.1% lower
after flitting between gains and losses, while also shedding
about 1.9% for the week on a two-day technology rout.
Wall Street indexes plummeted on losses in the technology
sector, which retreated sharply from record highs after leading
the rebound from pandemic-driven lows. .N
The European technology sector .SX8P fell 2.7% to end at a
one-month low, underperforming its peers for the week with a
4.1% drop.
German software developer Nemetschek NEKG.DE bottomed out
the STOXX 600, shedding 9.4%.
On the other hand, Bankia BKIA.MC and Caixabank CABK.MC
marked double-digit gains after both Spanish banks said they
were considering a merger to create the biggest lender in the
country. Caixabank was among the top percentage gainers in the
banking index .SX7P and the STOXX 600.
Basic resource stocks .SXPP were also among the few
gainers for the day, tracking a rise in base metal prices and an
expected uptrend in Chinese demand. MET/L
The STOXX 600 has stayed well within a trading range seen
since June, as a euro zone economic recovery appeared to be
running out of steam.
A batch of middling economic data this week bolstered
expectations that the ECB would maintain an accommodative stance
to support inflation, in line with the U.S. Federal Reserve.
"The Fed's decision to move to an average inflation target
has set the scene ... given the still high level of uncertainty
surrounding any economic outlook, the ECB is highly unlikely to
change its policy stance at next week's meeting," Carsten
Brzeski, chief economist, eurozone and global head of macro at
ING wrote in a note.
With European interest rates in negative territory, the ECB
has undertaken massive bond-buying programs this year to boost
liquidity through the coronavirus crisis.
Real estate stocks .SX86P sank 3.5%, led by Germany's
Vonovia VNAn.DE after it announced a 1-billion euro ($1.18
billion) capital raise. Curevac CVAC.O rose 3.4% after the German biotech firm won
nearly $300 million in government funding to speed up work on
its prototype COVID-19 vaccine and build capacity to produce it
at scale. ($1 = 0.8441 euros)