Prices fell by 2.72 per cent owing to weakness on Wall Street the previous day and of the dollar, and as investors took profits from three days of record-breaking rises. With the exception of Deutsche Telekom, which was unchanged at DM48.95, all stocks in the DAX 30 fell.

Daimler-Benz fell by DM3.30 to DM197.70 despite reporting a 22 per cent increase of sales in the first four months of the year.

Paris CAC-40: 4017.37 (-98.51)

Paris prices showed the sharpest fall for a month and the CAC 40 index closed with a loss of 2.39 per cent. On Tuesday, when the index reached its most recent record close, prices had risen by 37.25 per cent this year. Dealers in Paris said that investors were worried by falls of 5.3 per cent in Hong Kong and 4 per cent in Bangkok in response to pessimistic forecasts for Asian economies.

Milan Mibtel: 24130 (-754)

The market closed 3 per cent lower on fears of the impact of the Asian crisis on corporate earnings.