Shares in Frankfurt reversed early losses, clawing back from a session low of 5,064.63 on the Xetra Dax index to close with a gain of 33.63 at 5,167.55. Deutsche Bank was heavily traded, meeting with selling as the subscription period for the shares that the bank is issuing to partly finance the $9.7 billion (€8.9 billion) takeover of Bankers Trust of the US. The stock fell to a low of €48.65 before settling at €48.97, off €1.53.
Deutsche Telekom gained 35 cents to €40.60 ahead of first-quarter figures due on Thursday. Software leader SAP suffered Compaq fallout, slipping €5.83 to €282.67. The FTSE Eurotop 300 index fell 4.91 or 0.38 per cent to 1,289.63. Sportswear specialist Adidas fell €1.40 to €76 after warning of steeply lower first-quarter earnings. Henkel powered ahead, rising €1.40 to €68.70 after an upgrade to by from hold to "buy" at Commerzbank.
Paris started weaker, but recouped some losses by mid-session as Wall Street opened down but stronger than expected. The CAC-40 lost 8.14 or 0.2 per cent to 4,355.
Weapons and publishing conglomerate Lagardere rose 41 cents to €30.71 after offering to buy the 55 per cent of broadcaster Europe 1 it does not hold for €290 per share. News of the offer sent media and publishing shares soaring. Hachette Filipacchi Media rose €10.80 or 5 per cent to €225.80. SPIR Communication rose €1.90 or 3.5 per cent to €57.
Pernod-Ricard, the wine and spirits group, fell €2.50 or 4.3 per cent to €56 after a court ruling on Friday upheld the government's block on its $840 million sale of Orangina to Coca-Cola.
Renault rose €1.90 or 5.6 per cent to €35.60 after Louis Schweitzer, chairman, suggested it could sell its stake in Nissan Diesel Motor, the truck maker affiliated with Nissan where Renault owns 36.8 per cent.
Sodexho Alliance rose €6.80 or 4.7 per cent to €152. The hotel and catering group, which reported disappointing first-half sales last week, was still about 20 per cent lower than its early January level. Traders said the stock might be benefiting from bargain-hunting after this year's sharp fall.
Amsterdam pared early losses to close off 1.56 at 536.17 on the AEX index after touching a low for the session of 531.25.
Wall Street's early weakness hit technology stocks. ASM Lithography shed €1.35 at €43.40 and Philips, brushing off an upgrade to "trading buy" at Goldman Sachs, retreated €1.30 at €72.70. Elsevier stayed in demand as rumours of imminent corporate activity surrounded the media group. The shares added 30 cents or 2.2 per cent at €14.25.
Zurich trimmed its losses on a day in which much of the action was seen in smaller stocks. By the close, the SMI index was 34.0 lower at 7,352.9.
