Frankfurt

Shares ended the day in negative territory as investors pulled out of the market following recent exuberance.

The Dax closed 60.3 points lower at 4958.82.

Deutsche Bank led the banking sector's losses after yesterday's rally ahead of confirmation that it was in advanced talks with Bankers Trust to link up.

For the second day, investors sold shares in retailer Metro.

Today marked the first day of the subscription period for Metro's capital increase, for which Metro's majority shareholder Metro Holding waived its subscription rights.

German airline Lufthansa slipped after two unions said they would aim for a 7.5% wage hike for the company's 50,000 employees in the next round of wage talks.

Paris

Shares slipped into the red as profit-taking kicked in on banking shares.

The Cac 40 finished 6.43 points lower at 3839.38.

Societe Generale, Banque Nationale de Paris and Paribas alll saw their shares drift back.

"They couldn't carry on rising the way they have; we've had a 15% rise for all three over the last couple of days," said a trader at Paris brokerage CLC Bourse.

Just as the banks have boosted overall performance over the last two session, today's pullback capped gains elsewhere.

Auto shares moved higher after lagging the overall market recently.

France Telecom shares were up after the government set the maximum price for the company's second share offer at FFr420, and said heavy demand for the offer meant it would allocate a further 15m shares to individual investors.