European high technology stocks took a long awaited hit as investors digested comments by Microsoft president Mr Steve Ballmer that valuations in the sector had reached absurd levels.
Banks, by contrast, were broadly higher in the wake of Bank of Scotland's £20 billion sterling-plus (€33 billion) bid for National Westminster Bank. The advance, however, was UK-inspired as no fewer than eight British financial institutions took their places among the top 10 best performers in the FTSE Eurotop 300 index.
The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index closed 16.97 lower at 1,069.88. The FTSE Eurotop 100 gave up 34.10 to 2,938.10 while the broader FTSE Eurotop 300 settled 16.75 lower at 1,285.92. Frankfurt tracked Wall Street lower, sliding 113.04 to 5,186.53 on the Xetra DAX index to close the week with a net loss of 2.3 per cent.
Chemicals were troubled by a report of tough trading at Bayer. Mr Manfred Schneider, management board chairman, was quoted as saying that, unless the final quarter picked up, it would be hard to maintain profits this year.
Bayer fell €2.10 or 5.5 per cent to €36.45. BASF came off €1.48 at €41.52 and Degussa Huels €1.36 at €33.55.
Mannesmann, up 7.8 per cent on Thursday on news of plans to split the group in two, fell €5 to €147 on active profit-taking.
DaimlerChysler was a rare firm feature, improving seven cents at €64.75 after the announcement of top management changes.
Paris ended lower despite a rise in Casino, the retailer, on talk of a takeover by Wal-Mart of the US. The CAC-40 index dipped 60.37 or 1.3 per cent to 4,540.87.
Casino declined to comment on the takeover bid speculation, which helped push the shares €5 or 4.6 per cent higher to €13.50.
There was little joy elsewhere for investors, with only five CAC stocks closing in positive territory. STMicroelectronics, the volatile semiconductor manufacturer, was the top loser, falling €3.85 or 4.9 per cent to €73.95.
Amsterdam ended 11.15 lower at 554.33 on the AEX index with direction mostly dictated by steep falls for the heavyweight international stocks. Philips fell €4.25 or 4.3 per cent to €94 and Royal Dutch lost €1.30 at €55.60.
Zurich saw early losses extended in afternoon trade and by the close, the SMI index registered a fall of 100.1 at 6,965.7.
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