Shares in Frankfurt hit a fresh high, although by the close of the session, much of the early momentum caused by derivatives expiries had faded.
Adidas-Salomon shot ahead following the announcement of strong quarterly earnings from US sportswear rival Nike. The shares, which have come down from May's peak for 1999 of €106.29, jumped €6.61, or 9.7 per cent, to 75.01.
Mannesmann rose €10.50 to €236 after press reports suggested the telecoms and engineering group could be edging closer to accepting the takeover bid from Vodafone AirTouch of the UK.
Among steeper fallers, BMW lost 85 cents at €29.90 as investors pocketed some of the gains from Thursday's 11.8 per cent advance.
The Xetra DAX index ended 12.61 higher at 6,353.90, its session peak being 6,443.05.
Paris retreated in late trading to close down, reversing a brief technical boost from the expiration of futures contracts. The benchmark CAC-40 index closed down 37.76 at 5,502.4.
Expiration of futures contracts on all Dow Jones Stoxx indices prompted short-covering arbitrage, sending the CAC to a new all-time high at 5,597.62. The dip at the close meant that the CAC finishes the week little changed.
Rhone-Poulenc made its swansong on the CAC. On Monday, it will be replaced by Aventis, the new entity resulting from the merger with Hoechst, which will have about twice the weighting of Rhone-Poulenc.
Luxury retailer LVMH staged a last-minute surge on rumours of booming sales and of new business deals. LVMH also gained from a positive note by Goldman Sachs. By the close of trading, its shares were up almost 10 per cent at €375.20, a rise of €33.20.
Helsinki leapt 3 per cent as overseas investors swooped on technology stocks again after a brief hiatus in the middle of the week. The HEX general index advanced 351.96 to 12,968.21.
Bourse heavyweight Nokia joined the rally, rising €4.95, or 3.1 per cent, to €163.70.
Amsterdam pushed up 6.87 to a record high of 634.72 on the AEX index after a burst of buying in leading heavyweights.
In financials, ABN Amro added 60 cents at €24.29 and Aegon €3.95 at €93.45. Philips, up €3.30 at €130.50, continued to track the upbeat performance in New York of the Nasdaq composite. Foods leader Unilever improved €1.46 at €51.48.
Brewer Heineken jumped €3.01, or 6.9 per cent, to €46.47 on acquisition news. Office equipment group Buhrmann rose 4 per cent to €14.40 on e-commerce enthusiasm.
