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Europe's main stock market fell on Wednesday in a bout of profit-taking by investors after hitting recent 2009 peaks on the back of growing economic optimism.
London's FTSE 100 index fell 0.73 percent to 5,397.86 points, the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.62 percent to 3,935.50 points.
Germany's DAX 30 index of leading shares fell by 0.90 percent to finish at 5,957.43 points on Frankfurt's final trading day of the year.
However, the DAX has gained more than 23 percent in 2009, boosted by the nation's emergence from a deep recession in the second quarter.
Sentiment was dented on Wednesday after Tokyo finished in the red on the Japanese market's final trading day of the year.
"After yesterday's continued gains for European equity markets -- albeit in rather thin trading conditions -- investors in London may well be inclined to start taking money off the table," said IG Markets analyst Cameron Peacock.
"The FTSE traded yesterday up to levels not seen since before the collapse of (US investment bank) Lehman Brothers" in September 2008, he said.
But he added: "The fact remains that stocks have rallied a long way over the last nine months and as a result are starting to look a little toppy."
Adding to the negative mood, traders digested official news that France's public debt soared to a record 75.8 percent of output in the third quarter.
There was also some discouraging data from the European Central Bank, which said eurozone bank lending to the private sector contracted again in November.
Overall lending shrank by 0.7 percent from November 2008, the ECB said.
There was some reason for hope, however, as household lending -- a volatile but leading indicator of economic trends -- turned positive on the year.
"Today's monetary data have made us slightly more optimistic about future growth prospects," ING Global Economics economist Martin van Vliet said.
But IHS Global Insight's chief European economist Howard Archer said: "While the eurozone economy is now growing again, it is hardly racing ahead and significant concerns and uncertainties remain."
Most global financial markets face shortened trade this week because of year-end holiday celebrations.
London and Paris will shut early on Thursday for festivities, before reopening for business on Monday, January 4, 2010.
Despite Wednesday's losses, all three main European markets have gained more than a fifth in value so far this year, aided by increasing signs of economic recovery after the worst global downturn since the 1930s.
The eurozone, Japan and the United States have also emerged this year from a vicious recession that was rooted in the global financial crisis.
Britain, meanwhile, was widely expected to have escaped a record downturn in the fourth quarter or three months to December.
Wall Street also drew back on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average inching down 0.03 percent in afternoon trading.
The US market is closed on Friday for the New Year holiday.
In earlier Asian trade on Wednesday, Tokyo fell on its last trading day of 2009, hit by a plunge in Japan Airlines shares on fears the troubled carrier may file for bankruptcy, dealers said.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei-225 index sank 0.86 percent to 10,546.44 points, retreating from the previous day's four-month high.
However, the Japanese index climbed 19.0 percent over 2009, after a 42.1 percent plunge in 2008. The Tokyo stock market will also reopen on January 4.
