Frankfurt Dax: German stocks fell in the first part of trading yesterday, but then cut their losses before the close to end just 0.85 per cent off on the day. The recovery was sparked by a relatively good early Wall Street performance, traders said.
The DAX index finished the official session at 5,356.23 compared with 5,402.37 on Wednesday, when it gained 2.54 per cent thanks to a technical rally. The index was down by more than 3 per cent in the morning session mainly due to the Russian financial crisis. But Wall Street's higher opening steadied Frankfurt nerves. The bond market continued to act as a safe haven.
Paris CAC-40: French shares clawed back early losses in thin trading, where concerns about the yen and the rouble continued to sideline investors.
The Russian central bank's decision to limit purchases of foreign currencies by Russian banks to defend the rouble gave rise to fears in Paris of a payments default and/or a rouble devaluation.
Recovering from early losses, the CAC closed up 0.15 per cent on the day. In volatile trading, France Telecom opened 2.9 per cent lower after first-half turnover figures, but closed up 2.44 per cent at FFr 420.
Milan Mibtel: In Milan shares ended slightly lower after a see-saw trading session with big negative swings followed by positive swings after a good opening on Wall Street.
The underlying tone was cautious with concerns about the Far East and Russia dominating sentiment in the absence of any local corporate news. The all-share index closed 0.1 per cent weaker.
Among the banks, Creditano Italino rose by 0.89 per cent, BCI was up by 1.09 per cent and Banca di Roma rose by 0.68 per cent. But Banca Intesa dropped by 0.33 per cent, while San Paolo fell by 1.54 per cent.
