German shares ended electronic trading lower after the 30 share IBIS DAX index fell sharply in late trading. The index closed down 1.27 per cent, falling 30.94 points to 241 1.49. Dealers said the recent strong performance of German shares was coming to an end. Losses in some of the DAX index's bigger stocks, such as Siemens and Allianz helped drag the market down, dealers said.

CAC 40 1956.16 (-27.13)

French shares finished in a sharp decline as a 15 basis point in the Bank of France's intervention rate triggered heavy profit taking. A cut had been expected but the market broke a support level at 1980 for the CAC and closed sharply lower.

Mibtel 10156 (+157)

Italian stocks ignored the generally easier trend on other European exchanges and surged to close at the day's highs on optimism Italy might have a new government by the end of the week.