European markets continued to retreat amid uncertainty ahead of today's speech by Alan Greenspan, chairman of the US central bank. The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index fell 1.4 per cent to 1,093.51 for a two-day decline of 3.5 per cent. The FTSE Eurotop 100 index lost 1.5 per cent at 2,985.80 and the broader FTSE Eurotop 300 index 1.4 per cent at 1,304.19.

Frankfurt came off 77.12 at 5,414.17 to extend its decline on the Xetra Dax index to more than 210 points in two sessions. DaimlerChysler followed the market lower with sentiment dampened by the news that commercial vehicle orders were off 15 per cent over the first half of 1999. The shares lost #1.18 at #83.50.

Banks stayed soft. HypoVeriensbank tumbled #3.40 or 5.2 per cent to #61.70 after a downgrade at Goldman Sachs. Deutsche Bank retreated #1.27 at #61.69.

Cyclicals also came in for selling with Degussa-Huels off #2.03 at #39.19 and Linde down #17.5 at #643.50. Lufthansa gave up 22 cents at #17.93 in spite of a solid set of six-month traffic figures.

Paris suffered a fourth consecutive session of profit-taking, with a number of blue-chip stocks falling sharply. The CAC-40 index ended 47.04 or 1 per cent lower at 4,501.27, making a decline of 3.5 per cent in the last four days.

Technology stocks were sold heavily after the steep overnight decline in the US Nasdaq composite. STMicroelectronics, the semiconductor manufacturer, fell 90 cents or 1.3 per cent to 68.80, research and development group Altran dropped #6.40 or 2.6 per cent to #237.60 and Atos, the computer services company, closed #3.60 or 3.3 per cent down at #104.90. TotalFina and Elf Aquitaine, the oil groups that are trying to take each other over, both finished lower. Total fell #2.90 or 2.3 per cent to #124.10 while Elf shed #4.10 or 2.4 per cent to end at #167.20.

Amsterdam lost 7.52 at 567.73 on the AEX index after bad day for international stocks, notably Royal Dutch which fell 3.1 per cent. Unilever lost #1.65 at #65.95 and Royal Dutch, hit by softening oil prices, came off #1.90 at #58.85.

Philips, which reports second-quarter results today, shed #2.95 at #99.60 after poor results from ASM Lithography. ASM, which turned in first-half earnings well below broker expectations, tumbled #4.35 or 7.1 per cent at #57.35.

Milan extended losses in late trade to close near the session lows and the Mibtel index closed 502 lower at 24,115. Banca Profilo made a strong debut on the view that the northern Italian investment bank had a good industrial plan and strong growth prospects. The shares closed at a premium of almost 14 per cent at #1.82. The IPO had been 11 times subscribed.