A late rally for banks prevented European shares from closing at their lowest in more than eight months today as the euro zone sovereign debt crisis persisted, draining investor confidence worldwide.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares fell 0.5 per cent to close at 970.00 points, after falling as much as 3 per cent to 946.01 - its lowest level since early September.
The index fell 4.4 per cent over the week and is down 13 per cent from a mid-April high.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 ended the day 0.2 per cent lower, having slipped below 5,000 at one point.
Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 fell 0.7 and 0.1 per cent, respectively.
Wall Street was higher around the time European bourses were closing. The Dow Jones, S& P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up between 0.5 and 0.9 per cent. US stocks fell nearly 4 per cent yesterday.
Bank shares rose in Europe, boosted by US banks gaining a day after the Senate approved a sweeping Wall Street reform bill, capping months of wrangling over the biggest overhaul of financial regulation since the 1930s.
Barclays, Societe Generale, Banco Santander, BBVA and UniCredit rose between 1.8 and 3.8 per cent.
Miners also provided some support to the index after HSBC upgraded Xstrata to "neutral" and reiterated its "overweight" rating on Rio Tinto. HSBC said proposals to hike tax rates in Australia were not likely to be implemented in full.
Xstrata rose 6.4 per cent. Others that gained included Anglo American, Antofagasta, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp., Fresnillo, Lonmin and Rio Tinto, rising between 2.6 and 4.3 per cent.
Stronger metals prices, notably copper, also helped.
Oil and gas producers were among the top losers, with index heavyweight BP falling 4.2 percent after US politicians accused the company of covering up the true extent of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Others to fall, as crude prices slipped, included Royal Dutch Shell and Total, down 2.2 and 0.3 per cent respectively.