Europe ran up against blue-chip selling yesterday as investors opted to pocket some of the profits built up in recent sessions.
Broader markets held steady in the face of a weak opening on Wall Street, but not so core stocks where selling pressure left the FTSE Eurobloc 100 index 0.3 per cent lower at 1,075.19 after another see-saw session.
The FTSE Eurotop 100 index managed to improve 0.1 per cent at 2,964.60 while the FTSE Eurotop 300 index was virtually unchanged at 1,292.49.
Frankfurt met with profit-taking which made modest inroads into a five-day gain of 260 points. The Xetra DAX index ended off 29.44 at 5,230.47.
Heavyweight industrials led the way down with chemicals leader BASF off €1.04 at €43.36 and Siemens giving up €1.67 at €77.58. DaimlerChrysler lost 44 cents at €73.26 and steel giant Thyssen Krupp fell 71 cents at €22.80.
Deutsche Bank shed 62 cents at €63.03 in an active session for bank stocks amid talk of a take-over offer in the wings for Dresdner Bank which shot up to €42.72 at one stage before closing off 24 cents at €40.96.
Diversified telecoms group Mannesmann lost ground in spite of an upgrade to €200 from €160 in target price at Deutsche Bank. The shares, possibly reflecting concern about a possible rights issue, dipped €2.25 at €137.45.
Firm features included utility Viag, up €7.00 at €497, and Lufthansa. The airline staged a powerful run in morning trading ahead of first-half results, but later fell back to close 28 cents better at €17.60.
Paris closed flat after a week of gains, with investors looking ahead to next week's Federal Reserve meeting to decide US interest rate policy.
Banks climbed on hopes that Banque Nationale de Paris, Paribas and Societe Generale would resolve their take-over struggle by merging into a single entity.
BNP has launched hostile bids for the other two in attempt to prevent them merging.
BNP rose 65 cents or 0.9 per cent to €74.80, Paribas advanced €1.30 or 1.2 per cent to €105.60 and SocGen finished €3.90 or 2.1 per cent higher at €186.
Credit Lyonnais climbed 58 cents or 2.1 per cent to €28.02 on hopes that a merger between its rivals would allow it to enter the CAC-40 index. The CAC closed 0.49 down at 4,479.26.
