Bourses traded quietly ahead of the long weekend for most leading markets. The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index improved 3.06 at 1,071.09. The FTSE Eurotop 100 index added 0.72 at 2,990.09 while the FTSE Eurotop 300 index shed 0.52 at 1,296.17.
Frankfurt traded narrowly to close up 10.56 at 5,253.77 on the Xetra DAX index. Mannesmann and chemicals leader Hoechst were firm features.
Mannesmann continued to improve as hopes for the takeover of two Italian telecom operations rose. The shares added €5.71 at €131.84 for a net gain on the week of 11 per cent.
Brokers said the proximity of Mannesmann's annual meeting had also boosted sentiment. Deutsche Telekom, which also holds an annual meeting next week, added 32 cents at €37.76.
Hoechst gained from broker optimism with an upgrade to "outperform" from "neutral" at Lehman Brothers, sending the stock up €2.09 at €45.10. Steel leader Thyssen rose 58 cents to 19.63.
BMW, a weak market in recent sessions, attracted the bargain-hunters, gaining €16.90 at €657. DaimlerChrysler slipped 59 cents to €86.60 in spite of a report that the group planned to spin-off its aerospace operations.
Paris paused in its surge as Wall Street fell in early trading. The CAC40 index closed 23.78 or 0.5 per cent lower at 4,398.13.
The drop ended a good run for the CAC, which stands 1.7 per cent higher than its level at the start of the week. The index, which has risen 11.6 per cent since December 30th, is by some way the best performer among the main European indices this year.
Thomson-CSF, the defence electronics group, rebounded from recent underperformance as Morgan Stanley Dean Witter started covering the stock. The shares closed €1.79 or 5.8 per cent higher at €32.79.
Milan played host to another frantic session for telecoms shares as the final moments to the closing of Olivetti's $65 billion (€61.5 billion) takeover bid for Telecom Italia ticked away. The Mibtel index ended 219 higher at 24,750.
Telecom Italia, the day's most active stock, ended 15 cents lower at €9.58 after a session high of €9.93. Olivetti, which got within 10 cents of its 1999 peak of €3.51, finished 9 cents better at €3.38.
Finmeccanica surged following the release late on Thursday of top-of-the-range results. The shares jumped 7 cents to 88 cents. UniCredito rose 15 cents to €4.83 on talk that Deutsche Bank was set to lift its 0.75 per cent stake in the Italian bank .
