Following the morose mood on Wall Street, the Paris Bourse gave up early gains and ended Thursday's trading with another loss, dpa reported.
After being up more than 3 per cent earlier in the day as bargain hunters snapped up undervalued stocks, the Bourse's benchmark CAC 40 index turned around on Wall Street's weak opening and closed down 1.55 per cent, at 3,442.70.
Energy stocks led the declining issues, with GDF Suez falling by 13.08 per cent, to 26.25 euros, and state-controlled EDF losing 10.09 per cent to 39.30 euros.
Steelmaker ArcelorMittal, which was particularly hard hit this week, led the winners, rising by 9.11 per cent, to 25.09 euros.
Another industrial giant, transport equipment manufacturer Alstom, was also sought out, and gained 8.4 per cent, to 45.49 euros.
French-Belgian financial services group Dexia slid by nearly 3 per cent, to 5.82 euros, after the governments of France, Belgium and Luxembourg had agreed Thursday to guarantee its financing for at least a year.