Here is how major stock markets outside the United States ended on Thursday.
Bright spots included Danish telecoms firm TDC, which rebounded 4.8 percent after SBC Communications placed most of its 41.6 percent stake in the operator, while re-surging take-over talk lifted UK security-to-pest-control firm Rentokil by 5.5 percent.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips added 0.25 percent to close at 1,006 points, while the narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index ended nearly 0.5 percent higher at 2,800 points.
The All Gold index closed at 1,740.89 points, down 22.63 or 1.28 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 7,532.77 points, down 58.33 or 0.77 percent.