European stock markets had a mixed start to the week on Monday as investors awaited fresh leads from Wall Street after last week's turbulence on the US markets.
The Dax index dropped 0.76 percent to 6,567.80 points in Frankfurt.
Paris followed, with the CAC 40 index falling 0.25 percent to 6,134.1 points.
Only the London market advanced, with the FTSE index of 100 leading shares up 0.4 percent at 6,301.2 points.
The euro bought 0.8407 dollars.
Sentiment was buoyed slightly in initial trading by gains on the US markets Friday, when the Nasdaq added 1.89 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.82 percent.
The Asian markets provided no clear lead. The Hang Seng index closed up 0.4 percent in Hong Kong, but the Nikkei-225 shed 0.7 percent in Tokyo after the collapse of Kyoei Life Insurance Friday.
In London, Rail track jumped seven percent to 1,123.5 pence after the British rail regulator announced a five-year grant of 4.7 billion pounds for the company to spend on improving the country's rail infrastructure.
BG leapt 13.1 percent to 285 pence on the first day of trading after it demerged its Lattice subsidiary, which comprises the Transco pipeline business and a fledgling telecom operation.
In a second London demerger, Shipping group P and O added 6.5 percent to 246 pence after spinning off its main operations into a separate company, P and O Princess Cruises, which fell 9.9 percent to 290 pence on its first day of trading.
Mining group Billiton climbed 4.1 percent to 260.5 pence after announcing plans to build an electronic commodities marketplace with fellow mining outfits Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Glencore International and Accel-KKR.
Among German issues, software giant SAP climbed 0.7 percent to 218.10 euros. But semi-conductor maker Infineon shed 1.3 percent to 48.75 euros, while electronics components maker Epcos dropped 0.65 percent to 88.50 euros.
Deutsche Telekom added 2.1 percent to 39.10 euros amid rumors it is preparing a bid for a 20 to 25 percent stake in Swisscom's mobile phone unit, and is also considering splitting its T-Online subsidiary.
In Paris, Internet Service Provider Liberty Surf added 5.6 percent to 13.99 euros amid speculation that the company would access or jointly buy a third-generation Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) license.
Wine and spirits group Pernod-Ricard jumped 4.5 percent to 53.50 euros after heavy losses last week.
But retail giant Carrefour shed 2.1 percent to 80.30 euros after it was forced to withdraw one tons of suspect beef amid concerns that it may be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or madcow disease -- LONDON (AFP)
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