Frankfurt closed sharply lower in volatile late Xetra trade, but the Xetra Dax index recovered from a low of 4,347.65 down almost 6 per cent to close 184.24 lower at 4,439.13.
Siemens recovered slightly from big losses in afternoon trade to close 9.75 deutschmarks down at DM88.90 having been hit by worries across three of its sectors. Analysts said Siemens suffered from the profit warnings from Alcatel and Philips, and strong falls on the Paris exchange from ST Microelectronics. Siemens denied shortly before the close that its structure was similar to that of Alcatel and helped the shares stage a late rally.
Auto stocks were hard hit on currency considerations. BMW tumbled DM98 to DM990 and VW fell DM9.55 to DM107.45.
Paris bounced off the bottom in the closing stages of the session to end with a decline on the CAC 40 index of 122.5 to 3,342.65. Turnover was again heavy at 16.3 billion French francs with the market hitting a low for the day of 3,254.41.
Alcatel stayed out of favour in spite of an upgrade to "buy" by J.P. Morgan and confirmation that the group planned a share buyback. The stock came off FFr45 at FFr510 for a staggering decline of 49 per cent in just three days trading.
Dutch shares continued to lead the way down in Europe with Amsterdam badly rattled by its second heavyweight profits warning in as many trading days. The AEX index ended off 56.95 at 902.62 for a two-day decline of 8.7 per cent.
Milan was sharply lower but above its worst for the day, with the real-time Mibtel index 915 lower at 18,276.
Telecom Italia lost 659 lira to 11,373 lira with investors said to be dumping stocks.
