DAX:3264.67 (-51.26)

German shares hit further lows in post bourse electronic trade after US Federal Reserve Chairman Mr Alan Greenspan signalled that the central bank was inching towards raising interest rates.

The IBIS DAX index - which reflects after hours trading - ended at 3247.03 points, having earlier fallen 2.21 per cent to 3,232.57 points after the Greenspan comments.

CAC-40:2553.72 (-43.05)

The French market managed to recover some of its losses in late trading after falling heavily following the Greenspan comments. Dealers said, however, that the market may have further to fall before bottoming out.

Mibtel: 1731 (+7)

Italian shares closed almost unchanged after dipping and then recovering on the US news.

Brokers said that despite the negative sentiment generated by the Greenspan comments, the Milan bourse appeared to have held up better than most European stock exchanges which took a battering after Wall Street's downturn.