Paris's fall extends its losing streak

French equities stayed dull, with Paris extending its losses to 109 points in three sessions.

The CAC-40 index ended 32.49 lower at 3,663.21 in turnover that showed signs of early seasonal stress, trailing away to 8.7 billion French francs.

Retailers blipped higher after US stores giant Wal-Mart announced plans to expand in Europe. Promodes added Ffr46 at Ffr3,800 and Casino Ffr9 at Ffr569. Carrefour pared early gains to close off Ffr12 at Ffr4,140.

LVMH was hit by a bad day for stock markets in Asia, where the luxury goods group has a big customer base, and news of a possible acquisition. The shares tumbled Ffr52 to Ffr1,019.

Frankfurt edged up from Friday's seven-week low, but investors remained cautious as turnover weakened, and the Xetra DAX index managed a rise of just 20.24 at 4,563.26.

Viag put on 32 deutschmarks to DM922, encouraged by news that formal negotiations would start in January with Germany's energy industry to phase out atomic energy, which provides a third of the country's power.

Mannesmann eased DM1.40 to DM182.60 after the communications and industrial company said it would merge its metals unit with SMS Schloemann Siemag to form a joint metals, plant engineering and construction venture.

The motor sector, under pressure early in the day in response to a weakening dollar, rebounded towards the close. BMW jumped DM46 to DM1,091, DaimlerChrysler rose DM1.15 to DM148.75 and Volkswagen put on DM6.15 to DM125.40.

Amsterdam moved lower in spite of a positive performance by Royal Dutch, which pushed higher against the trend from the opening bell. The AEX index ended off 5.57 at 1,065.62.