Following closely in Wall Street's slipstream, German shares fell almost 4 per cent in trading yesterday, the biggest one-day loss since last December. Analysts said the speed of the fall showed that the German market could not decouple from the US.
Lufthansa led the market losers, while Deutsche Bank finished blower as ABN Amro cut from hold to sell.
CAC-40: 2,581.82 (-74.86)
French shares closed down sharply, reflecting the Wall Street falls when the Paris market was closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday. The CAC-40 ended almost 3 per cent down, with tyre maker Michelin the sole blue-chip stock to rise. The market closed just before the release of new economic data from the US National Association of Purchasing Managers.
Mibtel: 11,640 (-190)
Italian shares closed above the lows to which they had fallen in a day of nervous trading. A drop in a key component of the US NAPM index for March steadied trading at the finish, analysts said. Telecom Italia shares held up better than most, buoyed by selective buying by foreign fund managers.
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