Frankfurt and Paris have a bumpy day with the Xetra Dax index 18.51 weaker at 4,253.12 after fluctuating in a 140-point range.
The chemicals sector was weak after Schering issued a profits warning, saying that dollar weakness may hit 1998 profits. Schering picked up late in the session to close 15 pfennigs down at 180.25 deutschmarks. BASF finished DM1.36 lower at DM62 and Hoechst slipped DM1.12 to DM59.90.
Paris ended with the CAC-40 index up 15.53 at 3,278.85 after a bumpy session that took in good volumes and a trading range of nearly 130 points.
Earnings concerns were given a fresh dust-down by a round of broker profit downgrades for Rhone-Poulenc and LVM, which gave up 14 French francs to Ffr891 and Ffr9.80 at Ffr198.10 respectively.
Catching up fast after a threeday weekend, Madrid pushed strongly higher to lead the Eurobourse performance charts by a wide margin. The benchmark general index advanced 24.54 or 3.7 per cent to 681.38.
Banks led the way upwards amid positive talk ahead of the sector's third-quarter results season which gets underway this week.
Amsterdam climbed back above the 900-point level for the first time since late September, adding 17.95 to 917.60 on the AEX index in a session mostly driven by options influences ahead of Friday's derivatives expiries.
Milan picked up from a negative start to end in positive territory, lifted by strong gains in Telecom Italia, which rebounded from recent sharp losses.
