European bourses continued to track Wall Street, shifting about uneasily in morning trading and moving lower in the early afternoon following a soft opening for US equities.
The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index ended off 0.5 per cent at 1,077.23 and the FTSE Eurotop 100 index lost 0.6 per cent at 2,964.31. The broader FTSE Eurotop 300 index shed 0.5 per cent at 1,287.42.
The best-performing sector was aerospace and defence, buoyed by gains of more than 15 per cent for Rolls-Royce in the UK and a solid session for Thomson-CSF in France.
Frankfurt gave back a third of Friday's strong gains to send the Xetra Dax index down 37.35 at 5,320.40.
Motors were active ahead of today's third-quarter results from DaimlerChysler. BMW ended 21 cents better at €29 on news the group was stepping up its stake in Rolls-Royce from 2 to 10 per cent. Daimler shed 20 cents at €70.60.
Mannesmann came in for a further round of speculative support on a renewal of the theme that Vodafone Airtouch was poised to launch a takeover bid. The weekend press, in the UK and Germany, devoted many column inches to the prospect of a strike by Vodafone aimed at protecting its position in the European cellular market following Mannesmann's bid for Orange.
Mannesmann shares, off 11 per cent in the final two days of last week, ended €2.54 higher at €143.55.
Deutsche Telekom ran into profit-taking, slipping 61 cents to €43.04 ahead of Thursday's third-quarter results statement.
Insurance leaders were weak. Allianz lost €8.51 or 2.9 per cent at €281 and Munich Re fell €5.20 to €201.50.
Paris closed virtually unchanged with the CAC 40 index off 852 at 4,669.28.
Strength in the aerospace sector and a sprinkling of blue chips in other areas helped cushion the effect of early falls on Wall Street.
Thomson-CSF, the defence group, climbed 59 cents to close at €30.39. Other winners included Air Liquide up €2.60 to €141.
Amsterdam ended little changed after a session of narrow trading in modest volumes. The AEX index was off 1.45 at 547.82.
ING stood out within a weak financials sector, adding 45 cents at €52.42. Buhrmann rose 22 cents to €16.79 after the office equipment group made upbeat forecasts ahead of tomorrow's third-quarter figures.
