Bourses edged back late in the day as Wall Street weakened on worries that a rise in US interest rates might be imminent.
The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index, which covers leading companies in the euro zone, closed 5.21 or 0.5 per cent lower at 1,038.51. The FTSE Eurotop 100, covering countries inside and outside of the zone, fell 5.74 or 0.2 per cent to 2,927.88, while the broader FTSE Eurotop 300 settled 0.24 lower at 1,272.93.
Frankfurt reversed early gains to close with the Xetra Dax index off 57.88 at 5,010.71, down from a session high of 5,096.90.
Hoechst jumped to €43.10 after announcing plans to sell "a significant part" of its 45 per cent stake in Clariant, the Swiss chemicals group capitalised at around 11 billion Swiss francs.
Late selling left the stock just 16 cents better at €42.80. Volkswagen pushed 21 cents higher at €60.40 ahead of today's annual meeting, where capital increase plans will be put before shareholders. The state of Lower Saxony, which owns 18.8 per cent of VW, said yesterday it backed the move.
SAP and Viag were among the day's slackest performers. The software leader came off €10.50 at €366 and Viag fell €13.90 at €420. Retailer Metro came off €1.80 at €59 after a downgrade from "buy" to "hold" at CS First Boston.
Elsewhere in the sector, Karstadt appeared to benefit from switching, gaining €4.14 at €390.
Deutsche Telekom, up more than 15 per cent in two days on news of a significant increase in benchmark weighting later this month, ran into modest profit-taking, slipping 71 cents to €39.49. Agfa-Gevaert made a disappointing debut, closing at €21.30 against a flotation price of €22.
Paris finished lower, but received support from cement companies and the three leading banks involved in a bidding battle. The CAC-40 index ended 37.60 or 0.9 per cent down at 4,313.69.
Societe Generale and Paribas both rose on talk that Banque Nationale de Paris might raise the unsolicited bids it has made for each of them. SocGen, which also benefited from rumours of a "white knight" counter-bid, climbed €5.40 or 3.1 per cent to €181.2, while Paribas rose €1.50 or 1.4 per cent to €107.50.
BNP finished 85 cents or 1 per cent higher at €82.40.
Lafarge, the cement producer, put on €3.05 or 3.4 per cent to reach €93, benefiting from recent investor interest in the sector. Ciments Francais ended 80 cents or 1.4 per cent higher at €56.80. Oil stocks suffered from the sharp fall in the oil price.
In late trading in London, Brent crude for July delivery was down 55 cents at €14.65 a barrel. Total fell €1.30 or 1.1 per cent to €117, while Elf-Aquitaine ended €2.50 or 1.8 per cent down at €134.50.
