Led by losses for Sanofi, the French CAC 40 index fell 0.4% to 3438.26.
France's CAC 40 closed up 1.8% after slipping an identical amount in early trading.
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The financial sector's nosedive helped drag the CAC 40 index down 104 points, or 1.8%, to 5645.29.
Still, the CAC 40 index is widely used by local funds as a benchmark, Mr. Burnand said.
France's Cac 40 dropped 17% and Germany's Dax fell 14.7% over the year.
The French CAC 40 index jumped 4.1% to 3, 207.12, as banks moved higher.
Financials also helped lift the CAC 40 index, which firmed 0.4% to 3594.83, its highest close since July 29.
Frankfurt's Dax was 1.25% lower, with the Paris Cac 40 was down 2.35%.
Not a single one on France's CAC 40 share index or on Germany's DAX index is run by a woman.
Among other benchmarks, the French CAC 40 index added 0.6% to 3237.69, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index firmed 0.7% to 5634.74.
European markets all fell, with London's FTSE 100 closing down 1.6% at 6, 291.54 and the Cac 40 in Paris falling 2.3% to 3, 624.80.
Some of this is likely to continue, says an executive at a company listed on the CAC 40, France's index of leading firms.
In Paris the benchmark Cac 40 index was 101 points lower at 6, 094.2 and Germany's key Xetra Dax index ended 76 points down at 6, 912.9.
The CAC 40 in France fared worse, trading 0.90 percent lower.
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The initiatives sent leading European shares higher during afternoon trading: the Frankfurt DAX soared 8.5%, the Paris CAC 40 gained 6.7%, while the London FTSE 100 advanced 4.6%.
Britain's FTSE 100 closed up 1.1%, the Cac 40 of France ended the day up 0.8%, and Germany's Dax was up 0.7%, on Friday in Europe.
Among national benchmarks, both France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX indexes climbed 2.7%, to 3292.51 and 6801.00, respectively, while London's FTSE 100 gained 1.8% to 5766.95.
At the close of Monday, the French CAC 40 was down 29% from recent highs, back near to the lows of the original credit crunch crash.
European stock markets finished the day higher with London's FTSE 100 up 3.9 percent, Paris' CAC 40 up 3.7 percent and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt 3.5 percent.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index advanced 0.6% to 5864.78 and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.7% to 3450.27, with both indexes supported by gains in oil stocks as crude prices climbed.
In Germany, the DAX 30 index added 1.8% to 6539.85 in Germany, while the French CAC 40 index rose 1.5% to 3363.23 and London's FTSE 100 moved 1.3% higher to 5795.20.
In Paris, the blue-chip CAC 40 shed almost 4 percent, or 189.94 points, to a 17-month low of 4, 824.82, led by consumer electronics maker Thomson Multimedia ( PTMM) and insurer AXA ( PAXA).
The US fall also hit Europe's main markets in the first 20 minutes of Wednesday trade, with London's FTSE 100 index down 36.2 to 5, 905 and the Paris Cac 40 index down 55 points to 5, 382.5.
This includes FTSE in the United Kingdom, France whose CAC 40 is dangerously close to the old lows of 2000 and 2009 as well as Switzerland which suffers the embarrassment of a strong currency making their exports too pricey.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.40 percent, the French CAC-40 was up 0.56 percent and the German DAX opened around 0.40 percent higher.
Germany's DAX index rose 0.9% to 7144.45, while France's CAC-40 index finished 0.4% higher at 3580.21.
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