European shares ended yesterday a touch lower as sky-high oil prices and heavy losses by GlaxoSmithKline and other drugmakers overshadowed miners bolstered by base metal prices near multi-year peaks.

Tyre makers Continental and Michelin, and car parts firm Valeo shed between 1.3 and 3.3 per cent on concerns that surging raw materials costs would eat into their profits. US crude prices rocketed to $53 a barrel.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan European blue chips eased 0.18 per cent to end unofficially at 1,013.4 points, off from an earlier five-month high of 1,021.15 points. The narrower DJ Euro STOXX 50 fell 0.12 per cent to 2,828.6.

Health stocks led European markets lower as investors took a more gloomy view of the industry's prospects following a downbeat presentation from AstraZeneca on Wednesday.

Analysts said the meeting highlighted the problems facing drugmakers, mainly a lack of new products, pressure on prices, rising costs and growing competition from generics.

"This (AstraZeneca's) annual business review was further evidence that the pharmaceutical sector is under pressure and that its earnings are less defencive than the market maybe thinks," Commerzbank analysts said in a note.

AstraZeneca fell 2.5 per cent while Roche dropped 3.1 per cent. The firm said its Diagnostics division had filed a complaint against US lancet distributor Winsur Wholesale for patent and trademark infringement and unfair competition.

The negative tone was also fuelled by a fall in Pfizer in the US ahead of a court ruling which could clear the way for the launch of a cheaper form of its drug Neurontin, and after a prominent cardiologist questioned the safety of new arthritis drugs and the performance of US regulators in monitoring drug safety.