Milan closed higher on a day dominated by the death of Mediobanca founder Enrico Cuccia. Mediobanca surged as much as 8 per cent as news emerged that the doyen of Italian finance for the last 50 years had died aged 92.

Analysts said that while his death undoubtedly left a void at the centre of Italian finance, it opened the way for a battle for control of the investment bank, which has UniCredito and Banca di Roma as it s largest shareholders. By the close, Mediobanca was quoted 6.2 per cent higher at €9.89 Mediolanum, which in March announced a wide-ranging industrial alliance with Mediobanca, rose 1.9 per cent to €17.38. UniCredito put on 1.7 per cent to €4.84 and Banca di Roma 2.6 per cent to €1.25.

Banking group Bipop dipped 2 per cent to €9.12, reversing some of Thursday's 5 per cent gain, after it confirmed it was in talks to buy a majority stake in German online bank Entrium Direct. The Mibtel index finished 290 higher at 31,619 in spite of continuing caution about the outlook for US interest rates.

Paris pushed higher, lifting the CAC-40 index 70.47 to 6,545.35. Cap Gemini tumbled 6.7 per cent following a broker downgrade, but, in general, technology stocks gained ground. France Telecom added €3.50 to €160.5 and STMicroelectronics €2.65 to €72.75. Cap Gemini fell €13.10 to €183.90 on rumours of an imminent profits warning and in the wake of a downgrade from "strong buy" to "buy" at UBS Warburg.

News of a joint venture with US tyre giant Goodyear lifted Michelin 21 cents to €32.09. Catering leader Sodexho Alliance added €8 at €174 in minimal volume.

Frankfurt traded narrowly after another session of downward pressure from bond markets. Epcos stayed out of favour, slipping a further €4 to €123 for a two-day decline of 7.5 per cent. Sportswear leader Adidas Salomon lost €6.60 at €376.40. But trading volumes remained below average and the broad market continued to suffer lack of direction.

DaimlerChrysler added 89 cents to €56.24 on confirmation of planned links with South Korea's Hyundai Motor. The Xetra DAX index was off 6.25 at 7,047.42 at 5.30 p.m. German time.

Amsterdam finished off 1.44 at 682.72 on the AEX index, a steep slide for Unilever providing downside pressure. The foods and detergents leader came off €3.45, or 6.3 per cent, at €51.05 after the group warned that sales this year were climbing less strongly.