A wave of profit-taking among the heavyweight banks, sent Frankfurt lower. Deutsche Bank fell 4 per cent and the Xetra Dax index ended off 82.18 at 5,295.22. Solid looking first quarter results from both Deutsche Bank and HypoVereinsbank became the signal for a round of profit-taking in banks after the recent strong run for the sector. Deutsche shed €2.41 at €54.34 and Dresdner €1.95 at €38.75. Hypo came off €1. 69 at €60.20.

Hoechst, which is set to merge with Rhone Poulenc of France, came off €2.39 at €42.14 after a Merck Finck downgrade to under-performer. The bank also cut its 1999 earnings estimates by a third. Deutsche Telecom lost €1.61 at €36.14 as news of a June pricing for a big share issue hit sentiment. The start of a series of road-shows to promote the planned merger with Telecom Italia failed to cushion the selling.

Paris ended sharply lower after Wall Street fell in early trading. Oil stocks led the market down, with investors taking profits after the sector's recent strong performance. The CAC-40 index of blue-chip companies, which has been hovering close to its all-time high, shed 70.38 or 1.6 per cent to end at 4,368.17. Oil groups accounted for nearly half of the fall, with Elf-Aquitaine shedding €7.8 or 5 per cent to €147 and Total closing €8.1 or 6.1 per cent lower at €123.7.

Amsterdam moved lower in line with leading European. Shares took a beating with the sellers homing in on some of faster performing sectors, notably energy and mining. Oil and gas fell 3.8 per cent and mining came off 3.7 per cent. The FTSE Eurotop 100 index shed 2.06 or 63.21 to 3,009.74, while the broader FTSE Eurotop 300 lost 22.83 or 1.7 per cent at 1,306.78. The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index came off 15.00 or 1.4 per cent at 1,074.16, in spite of the excitement generated by a €835 million take-over bid.

DSM moved ahead strongly after Goldman Sachs placed the chemical leader on its recommended stock list. The shares jumped €3.25 or 3.5 per cent to €95.25. KLM continued to gain following Tuesday's news of a repayment to shareholders, adding 95 cents at 31.50 for a two-day advance of 10.7 per cent.

Philips tracked the latest setback for US tech shares, slipping €3.65 or 4.4 per cent to €79.25. Elsewhere among heavyweight stocks, Royal Dutch shed €1.60 at €54.10.