Banks were one of the day's best-performing sectors after the European Central Bank lived up to most expectations by leaving key rates unchanged.
Dresdner Bank was marked 1.1 per cent lower at €48 even though a 16.4 per cent fall in nine-month net profits to €586 million proved a better result than some analysts' expectations of around €549 million.
But Deutsche Bank staged a belated bounce in response to Wednesday's slightly better-than-expected results. The shares put on 2.1 per cent to €98.25, even as ABN Amro downgraded its recommendation.
ABN Amro rose 2.2 per cent to €27.44. Credit Lyonnais jumped 2 per cent to €41.80. Italian banks ended little changed in spite of an upbeat report from Moody's on the sector's prospects. Moody's said its continuing positive outlook for Italian bank ratings was based on the considerable progress made in restructuring the Italian banking system in recent years and the favourable environment in which the banks operated.
Oil stocks trudged lower as disappointment set in around Royal Dutch, following the group's third-quarter figures. These showed powerful growth at the headline level but were seen to be at the low end of broker expectations. The shares fell €2.38 or 3.4 per cent to €68.15.
Other sector majors kept firmly in step. Total Fina Elf shed €3.40 at €167.60 and Repsol seven cents at €18.65.
Bid rumours were again swirling around French car parts maker Valeo, sending the shares up smartly in robust trading. Renault was a weak feature among conventional motor stocks. The shares came off €3.40 at €56.50.
Securitas was the biggest loser in the FTSE Eurotop-300 index as the Swedish security services group cut its full-year earnings growth forecast to 20 per cent from 25 per cent after unveiling nine-month results that failed to meet market expectations. The shares tumbled 10.4 per cent to €185.
The high-tech sector had its usual crop of extravagant price movements. Swiss software house Miracle Holdings, which halted operations last week and said it would file for insolvency, soared on plans for a new company to buy some of the assets.
