European markets ended little changed after a day spent anticipating and then tracking the shifting mood on Wall Street. The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index finished virtually all square at 1,101.84. The FTSE Eurotop 100 index dipped 0.2 per cent to 3,012.18 while the broader FTSE Eurotop 300 index eased 0.1 per cent to 1,320.66.
Frankfurt clawed back to equilibrium, regaining early losses on the Xetra DAX index, which closed 9.34 better at 5,400.70 after a low of 5,332.84.
Viag and Veba, the utilities locked in merger talks, met with selling. The former shed 32 cents at €20.68 and Veba came off €1.14 or 1.9 per cent at €58.86. Firm features included BMW, adding a further €1.41 at €32.20 ahead of the start next week of the Frankfurt motor show, and techs leader SAP, which jumped €18.40 at €411.70.
Financials were mixed, with sentiment weighed down by an interest rate rise in Britain which created tentative talk of a knock-on movement by the European Central Bank. Deutsche Bank shed 40 cents at €64.90, but Munich Re gained €5.10 at €193.10.
Mannesmann improved €1.53 to €144.75 on news of a strategic alliance with Ericsson of Sweden aimed at developing the groups' in-car information operations. Siemens added €1.29 at €81.80. Upgraded by Lehman Brothers on Tuesday, sports car maker Porsche rose €65 to €2,650 for a two-day gain of 7 per cent.
Paris closed flat in volatile trading, with several stocks posting large gains. The CAC-40 ended 0.68 up at 4,680.61. Carrefour, the retailer that has agreed a take-over of its rival Promodes, was the most heavily traded stock. It closed €6.70 or 4.5 per cent higher at €154.20, its second successive rise after edging back on profit-taking on Monday. Promodes continued to come back after profit-taking, closing at €892, up €35 or 4.1 per cent.
Milan staged a late comeback to end in positive territory as banking stocks surged on expectations of a new wave of mergers among financial stocks. The Mibtel index picked up from a low of 23,607 to close 142 higher at 23,928.
Amsterdam pared early losses to close off 4.26 at 582.31 on the AEX index. Financials were weak with the British interest rate rise bringing latent worries about tighter money back into focus. ABN Amro lost 30 cents at €23.05 in 8.3 million shares traded. Aegon shed €1.30 at €81.70.
Philips, a firm market lately, ran into profit-taking, slipping €2.35 to €99.90 to unwind some of the near 6 per cent improvement built up over the past two sessions.
Heineken gave up 25 cents at €50.55 with news of tough trading in the home market taking some of the shine off solid first-half results. Local brewing rival Grolsch shed 70 cents or 3 per cent at €22.60. KLM fell 45 cents to €25.35 after Merrill Lynch reduced its earnings estimates for the airline.
