LONDON (ShareCast) - European shares plummeted Friday, with the German Dax closing at its lowest level since April, as banks fell back again amid ongoing worries about the financial sector.

Dutch-Belgian Fortis was one of the biggest fallers in the sector, with Switzerland’s UBS, ING Groep and Deutsche Bank also sharply lower.

Veolia slid after it said that high oil prices and the currency impact means its net income growth objective "could be difficult to achieve in 2008."

Wavin dropped after it warned first-half EBITDA margin will be lower than last year, causing Petercam to cut its stance on the Dutch building materials group to 'sell' from 'reduce'.

In M&A news, Czech manufacturer Zentiva rejected PPF Group’s takeover offer and said it ‘noted’ Sanofi-Aventis rival bid.

Private equity firm PAI Partners announced it had bought a 18% stake in Atos Origin, becoming the French IT firm’s primary individual shareholder.

Germany’s Thyssenkrupp got a lift from Merrill Lynch as the brokerage upped its to 'neutral' from 'underperform' and lifted its price target to €43 from €39 per share.

Elsewhere, Henkel confirmed late Friday that the European Commission antitrust authorities had inspected offices of the Persil washing powder maker.

The German Dax closed 142 points lower at 6,578 the French CAC dropped 82 points to 4,509, while the Swiss market fell 89 points to 7,069.

In economic news, German producer prices increased by 1.0% month-on-month in May and by 6.0% on the year, the higher yearly increase since July 2006, according to the German Statistics Office.

Dutch consumer spending increased 2.1% year-on-year in April, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

Swiss producer and import prices in March rose 1.2% from April and 3.9% from last year, the Swiss Federal Statistics Office said.

• News Channel