Bourses back-pedalled modestly as interest rate concerns reasserted themselves. The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index dipped 0.3 per cent at 1,084.74 and the FTSE Eurotop 100 index eased 0.3 per cent at 2,991.35. The FTSE Eurotop 300 index ended at 1,297.28, off 0.4 per cent.
Frankfurt continued to trade within a narrow range, slipping 24.90 at 5,363.86 as the Xetra DAX index handed back a large measure of Tuesday's improvement. Telecoms were lower with Deutsche Telekom off 10 cents at €42.90 ahead of today's nine-month figures, expected to reveal scars from increasingly competitive trading. Mannesmann, up nearly 5 per cent in two days, ran into profit-taking as investors tired of waiting for the widely expected take-over bid from Vodafone AirTouch of Britain. The shares shed €2.83 to €145. Deutsche Bank lost €1.69 at €64.81 as investors continued to fret about a disappointing results statement.
Paris shares closed a fraction lower. The CAC-40 index ended 11.5 down to 4,695.05, with traders citing caution about the direction of US and European interest rates. Trading volumes nonetheless totalled an active 23.1 million shares.
Legrand, the electrical equipment group, climbed higher after strong nine-month sales showed a surge in the third quarter after a poor first half. Shares rose €12.90 to €220, a climb of over 6 per cent. Robust nine-month results also gave a boost to Rhodia, the chemical group. It rose 51 cents to €18.59 after analysts upgraded their earnings forecasts.
Elf Aquitaine closed down €8.80 at €158.60 as its remaining investors sold their holdings on news that TotalFina had won nearly 95 per cent.
Amsterdam absorbed a weakness at Philips to close little changed with the AEX index up 0.11 at 552.39. Philips fell €2.60 or 2.8 per cent at €90.40, partly tracking early weakness for US technology stocks.
Solid bond markets helped lift financials where Aegon was a strong performer, adding 95 cents at €82.15. ABN-Amro gained 20 cents to €21.64. Chemicals leader Akzo Nobel jolted lower at the opening after third-quarter results fell short of analysts' expectations, but the stock quickly recovered. It ended 32 cents better at €39.53.
Madrid traded cautiously with the Ibex-35 blue chip index just 24 down at 9,419.2. But selected stocks shook off the lethargy. Telepizza recovered from its recent bout of weakness after a presentation to analysts. Shares rose 16 cents to €4.76, but traders said they were unimpressed with Telepizza's take-over of Telechef in the absence of a clear group strategy.
Milan saw another day of drab trading with traders holding back ahead of the state railway group Enel's initial public offering. The Mibtel index was 33 lower at 22,756. Tiscali, the Internet provider, injected most excitement into the session with the shares suspended for making excessive gains in its Nuovo Mercato debut. They closed at €71.80, a 56 per cent premium on the flotation price of €46.
