Early euphoria over Thursday's unexpected cut in US interest rates soon gave way to growing unease over the Fed's move and pulled Frankfurt back from its best levels.
The Xetra DAX index turned back from a peak of 4,578.41 to close 77.48 higher on the day at 4,469.12 as the weak dollar also raised concerns over the impact on the German export sector.
Traders viewed the US rate cut as a mixed blessing. The most likely explanation for it was that bad news was on the way, said one analyst.
Utilities remained under pressure following Thursday's news that the new government planned to shut down nuclear power generating plants.
Viag lost DM18 to 1,117 deutschmarks and Veba lost DM2.50 to DM80.40.
Paris pared early gains. The CAC-40 index closed up 27.84 at 3,390.10 in contrast to the 3,457.27 touched at the opening bell.
Banks continued to gain ground, although Paribas took an earnings downgrade from Goldman Sachs to heart, dipping 4.90 francs to Ffr376.
Amsterdam ended 11.39 higher at 952.73 on the AEX index in volumes boosted by the day's options expiry.
Philips gained 2.50 guilders to Fl1,060 ahead of next Thursday's third-quarter results. Food and drinks group Bolswessanen topped the day's performance charts with a rise of Fl1.40 or 6.5 per cent to Fl20.50.
Madrid rose 30.36 or 4.3 per cent to 738.69 on the general index mostly on the back of a 10 per cent surge for leading bank shares.
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