Frankfurt DAX: German shares closed modestly higher in after-hours electronic trading after the very heavy losses of Wednesday and the Xetra DAX index was at 5507.36 at the close after the floor-traded DAX closed on 5481.26. As expected, the Bundesbank left German interest rates unchanged after its regular monetary policy meeting.There was some concern that a sharp rise in US first quarter growth figures might provoke an interestrate rise by the Fed, but these fears failed to translate into further heavy losses on Wall Street. The dollar was stable against the mark at DM1.7785. Among individual stocks, Daimler fell after going ex-dividend while Hoechst was supported by an upgrade by J.P. Morgan.Paris CAC-40: French shares ended flat after the heavy fall on Wednesday, as Wall Street traded mixed in early business with little impact from the higher-than-expected US first quarter GDP figures. Dealers said worries about Russia were mainly affecting German shares while the nuclear test by Pakistan had no real impact on the market.The market started with an early rally following Wall Street's overnight u-turn and French shares rose up over 1.5 per cent in early trading before renewed weakness brought the market to a marginal fall on the day.

Later, investors took profits following the US data. Aerospace shares were in demand after the announcement that the Government has asked Aerospatiale to prepare for a share flotation.Milan Mibtel: The Milan market ended off the session lows after Wall Street shook off early weakness. Dealers said Asian turmoil and tensions in Italy over constitutional reforms kept stocks in negative territory in a volatile session. Banca Intesa was one of the better performers and bucked the market trend in anticipation of positive news from today's board meeting while Banco di Napooli was also ahead after reporting a big jump in first-quarter profits. Banco Popolare di Brescia and CAB were both higher on talk that the two northern banks could be merger candidates.