The weak opening on Wall Street also depressed the German share market as fears about US rates and inflation gained the upper hand. The IBIS DAX index, which measures electronic trading, ended the afternoon at 2,550.53 points, up 6.27 points on the day.

CAC-40 2,029.51 (-21.04)

Stocks closed down 1.03 per cent after the bourse stuck to its customary pattern of exaggerating every retreat on Wall Street. Although the laggard French market is hardly due for a correction, having trailed the bull runs on Wall Street and elsewhere in Europe, a 0.7 per cent drop in early trading on the US market knocked Paris shares to their session lows.

Mibtel 9,925 (-322)

Italian shares closed lower depressed by the early falls seen on US stocks and reflecting the sharply lower trend to domestic bonds and the easier lira.

One of the only shares to stand out was Mediaset on its first day of trading showing a 4.5 per cent gain