Blue-chip shares pared some of the losses from bourse dealings in late IBIS electronic dealings, underpinned by strength on Wall Street. The IBIS DAX index recovered from the day's lows to end at 2702.60 points. The 30-share DAX index of blue-chip stocks had closed the bourse session down 11.47 points at 2691.17.

Paris CAC-40: 2161.54 (+9.99)

Shares found external support from Wall Street's push upwards and reversed the day's retreat to end higher. Market operators noted non-domestic buying, particularly from US funds. Prior to the entry of Wall Street bulls, Paris equities were down on profit-taking on strong strong gains. The blue-chip CAC-40 index closed up 9.99 points at 2161.54.

Milan MIBTEL: 9999 (+9)

Italian shares recovered from early weakness to close slightly higher helped by the firm early trend on Wall Street and the strength of some blue-chip shares such as ENl, Olivetti and Benetton.