The expiry of futures options conspired with Wall Street-induced nervousness to drag Paris 1.4 per cent lower, leaving the CAC-40 59.62 off to 4,092.94 at the close.
Air Liquide, down #6.70 to #135.80, and Renault, #2.10 off to #42.50, were both weaker ahead of results next week. Information technology issues also eased following weakness on Wall Street. Cap Gemini cut #7.50 to #157.50 while STMicroelectronics lost #2.85 to #81.15.
BIC continued to plunge after Thursday's poor results. The stock closed #3.70 off at #47, a 13 per cent fall in two days.
Frankfurt gave up a further 14.59 at 4,903.96 on the Xetra Dax index but thanks to solid gains over the first three days managed to end the week with a 1.6 per cent improvement.
Dresdner Bank lost 96 cents at #31.70 after reporting a steep rise in risk provisions and running into a downgrade at BNP. Deutsche Bank shed 65 cents at #47.55.
Hoechst shed 10 cents to #42.90. The chemical leaders results were in line with expectations, but worries persisted that the planned merger with Rhone-Poulenc of France would be abandoned.
Milan closed flat after a volatile session dominated by Olivetti's offer for Telecom Italia. The Mibtel index finished 18 weaker at 23,999.
Olivetti shot up 4.8 per cent in intraday trade as the market revived past speculation that media group Mediaset could target Olivetti itself for a bid.
Olivetti closed 6 cents ahead at #2.80, while Mediaset, which denied it was planning a bid, put on 28 cents at #8.60.
Telecom Italia and Tim, its mobile phones subsidiary, both ran into profit-taking as the latest developments in the Olivetti bid saga suggested that the campaign could be long-running and bitterly fought.
Telecom fell 15 cents to #9.59 and Tim was 15 cents lower at #6.12. The savings shares in both companies, which had been sharply higher in recent sessions on speculation that Telecom could convert them into ordinary shares, were also hit by profit-taking.
Amsterdam ended little changed with the AEX index 1.61 ahead at 536.12. Financials edged lower and Philips eased 25 cents to #63.50 after the electronics giant announced plans for a US semiconductor takeover worth $777 million.
Foods group Wessanen, which spun off its Bols spirits operations last year, surged 90 cents or 7.8 per cent to #12.50 on an upbeat trading statement and takeover news. Hagemeyer, the trading group which is selling its US foods operations to Wessanen, came off 95 cents at #28.10.
Helsinki closed 0.8 per cent lower, with the Hex index 50.27 off to 6,043.99.
