Shares in Frankfurt relinquished initial gains yesterday to end little changed on the day and the week. The Xetra Dax index finished off 3.38 at 5,958.07 after touching a high for the session of 6,023.01.

Karstadt took a tumble, sliding 6.7 per cent after Goldman Sachs followed up last week's profit warning from the retailer with a savage earnings downgrade.

The broker is slicing 11 per cent off its forecasts for 1999 and 21 per cent from next year's predictions. The stock ended €2.41 lower at €33.81.

Mannesmann moved lower in late trading, losing €1.74 at €200.51 in spite of value of more than €250 per share for the takeover bid from Vodafone AirTouch. Paris pared early gains to close 44.74 better on the CAC-40 index at 5,397.34, for a 2.5 per cent net gain on the week.

Lagardere stormed ahead on speculation that the defence and publishing group was set to expand its media operations by taking a stake in CanalSatellite, an offshoot of Canal Plus. The stock rose €2.50 to €46.40 in active volume, for a gain this week of 11 per cent. Canal Plus, up 18 per cent on Thursday, dipped €5.55 at €86.45 on profit-taking.

Telecoms fever got behind construction and mobiles phones group Bouygues, lifting the stock €28.90 at €487. France Telecom added €4 at €120.

Amsterdam rose 1.11 to 610.01 on the AEX index, with electronics giant Philips topping the performance charts for the second day. Ahead of Monday's strategy statement from the company, the shares rose €4.45 to €121.45 for a two-day gain of 8.8 per cent. Deutsche Bank added to the upbeat mood, lifting its target price from €125 to €150. ING upgraded to "strong buy". Office equipment group Ahrend, down 15 cents at €12.30, put out a profits warning shortly after the market closed.