Pulverised by Wall Street, Frankfurt fell back in afternoon trading to close with the Xetra DAX index off 58.44 at 7,640.53. The benchmark hit an intra-day record of 7,813.20 earlier in the session.

Deutsche Telekom kept up the flow of positive news - a strategic partnership with Cisco Systems and Compaq Computer of the US - and advanced €2.50 or 2.9 per cent to €90 in the process. Software leader SAP added €2.50 at €856.50.

Siemens, up 9 per cent on Wednesday, ran into profit-taking, slipping €1.11 to €179.49 after hitting €191.80 earlier in the session on an upbeat trading statement.

Paris ended up 47.53 at 6,078.78 on the CAC-40 index as tech stocks stayed in demand.

Lagardere jumped €6.50 or 7 per cent to €100, Cap Gemini rose €18.20 to €258 and Canal Plus €17 to €265 in combined turnover for the session of €424 million.

Supermarket groups were also strong with a positive trading statement from Carrefour sparking interest in the sector. Carrefour added €5.70 at €139.50 and Casino gained €2.30 to €91.

Amsterdam improved 1.03 to 653.55 on the AEX index in the face of steep falls for a number of benchmark heavyweights.

Philips, up €2.80 at €182.75, and KPN with a gain of €5.40 at €122.40, provided the main supports as the Nasdaq pushed higher in early trade.

Media stocks VNU and Wolters Kluwer were also firm amid sector switching as Elsevier ran foul of bottom-of-the-range results to plunge 9.8 per cent or €1.45 to €13.30.

Zurich's blue-chips ran out of steam, but hi-tech stocks surged, carried along in the wake of the Nasdaq's record-setting run. The SMI index finished 47.9 lower at 7,043.8.

Milan pulled back to close weaker after an early exploratory foray into record-setting territory was inspired by gains in Tecnost and other telecoms stocks.

The Mibtel index turned back from an all-time intra-day high of 33,330, to close 54 easier at 32,593.