DAX: 4273.71 (+76.73)

Germany's DAX index ended higher after a sharp mark-up to reflect the previous day's rise in post-bourse electronic trade, although movement was subdued ahead of today's market holiday.

Dealers said many domestic players were cautious ahead of key US jobless data, to be released today. They also said profit-taking was restraining progress.

CAC-40: 3052.07 (-2.86)

French stocks finished slightly lower after tracking an early retreat in the Dow index on Wall Street. Brokers said the bourse, which climbed in early trading on the back of the Dow's first close above 8000 points on Wednesday, was turning cautious ahead of the US jobs data and a national jobs conference on October 10th. Employers strongly oppose proposals to legislate a reduction in the work week to 35 hours from 39.

Mibtel: 15317 (-86)

Italian shares ended lower with the political uncertainty meaning that most major players stayed out of the market.