Ending a volatile week on a bright note, Paris added 22.92 at 3,738.59 on the CAC-40 index, although that still leaves a net decline over the five days of 5.4 per cent.
CCF was the main theme being picked up yesterday, It hit a session high of 503 francs before settling at Ffr490, up Ffr25 on a tidal wave of rumour sparked by an Italian press report suggesting the bank was set to link with San Paolo-IMI of Italy.
Frankfurt reduced its losses late in the day and the Xetra DAX index finished 9.58 weaker at 4,802.76, up from a day's low of 4,687.17 but down 6.3 per cent on the week.
Preussag, the tourism and services group, jumped 3.2 per cent, buoyed by Thursday's news that it was in talks on co-operation with British travel agency Thomas Cook.
BMW remained a loser in spite of the stronger dollar and the Dow's early rebound. Continuing concerns over the restructuring at its British Rover Group arm sent the shares down 63.30 deutschmarks to DM1,055.65.
In a mixed banking sector, a 66 pfennig decline in Deutsche Bank to DM99.24 was attributed to concerns that the bank's takeover of Bankers Trust could be delayed by a request from Holocaust survivors that US regulators withold approval.
Helsinki turned in Europe's most confident performance as Nokia soared to an all-time closing high. The telecom equipment maker jumped 12 Finnish markka to FM532, off a peak of FM548, in an enthusiastic response to a meeting with analysts. The Hex index closed 148.58 or 3 per cent higher at 5,075.36.
