A more circumspect Frankfurt continued to push higher after Friday's 5.1 per cent surge. The Xetra DAX ended up 12.17 at 5,043.23. The benchmark hit a session high of 5,086.43 but unwound most of this upturn as nervousness in a number of sectors, notably chemicals, sparked profit-taking.
BASF tempered a warning of lower profits this year with a forecast of better times to come in 2000. The shares finished up €1.20 at €33.90 after dipping to €31.71 at one stage.
The trend elsewhere in the sector was uncertain at best. Bayer added 10 cents at €34.80, but Hoechst lost 37 cents at €42.40. In utilities, RWE, up more than 20 per cent in two sessions at the end of last week, fell €3.30 to €43.90. Rival Veba, boosted by the news that it had sold its 10 per cent stake in Cable and Wireless of Britain for a net profit of 2.6 billion deutschmarks (€1.3 billion), gained €1.45 at €53.95.
Thyssen rose €11.2 to €179.50 on an upgrade to outperform at Deutsche Bank. Among financials, Allianz came off €1.59 at €304.41 in spite of an upgrade to buy by J.P. Morgan.
Paris ended virtually flat at the end of a volatile day as investors adopted a wait-and-see attitude. The CAC-40 ended 10.49 higher to 4,185.12, after a late rise on Wall Street rescued it from negative territory.
Investors, however, were largely unfazed by a statement from Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Finance Minister, forecasting a "quite marked" recovery in second-half French growth.
Banks had a mixed day, with many investors taking profits in the absence of news about the fast-moving mergers and acquisitions scene. BNP closed €2 or 2.5 per cent lower to €78, while Paribas conceded 10 cents to €100.10. CCF rose €2 to €86.70 and Societe Generale was up 30 cents to €164.
Eurotunnel ended 7 cents lower on €1.49 despite reporting its first ever profits. Traders blamed the fact that shares looked overvalued.
Amsterdam brushed aside downward pressure from the options market ahead of Friday's expiry, sending the AEX index up 2.03 at 535.05.
Telecoms leader KPN came off 30 cents at €41.40 in spite of an upgrade to buy for the shares by CSFB ahead of results. Nedlloyd, the shipping group which also puts out figures shortly, jumped €1 to €11.85.
Zurich finished marginally lower after a session in which many investors were sidelined awaiting 1998 results from Novartis and CS Group. The SMI index turned back from an early high of 7,297 to close 9.8 weaker at 7,240.9. Madrid edged higher, helped by gains on Wall Street and speculation of more mergers that sent some banking shares up sharply. The general index finished 1.55 higher at 898.31.
Milan picked up during the second half of the session, lifted by Wall Street and gains in a handful of blue chips. The Mibtel index finished 361 higher at 25,074.
