At the close of Thursday's trading, European shares closed at 1.5 percent lower with banks hit by doubts about the U.S. government plan to boost the financial system.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 unofficially ended at 791.26 points after earlier falling as low as 784 points.

Worldwide equities continued the loss trend set the previous day as investors remained skeptical about the $2 trillion U.S. bank rescue plan announced earlier this week by the U.S. government.

.

Wall Street indexes also saw a 1 to 2 percent fall on Thursday.

Wall Street indexes fell between about 1 and 2 percent on Thursday.

Among European banks, BNP Paribas lost 7.5 percent, Barclays shed more than 3 percent and UBS lost nearly 4 percent.

The greatest loser was Europe's largest computer consultancy, Capgemini, with shares dropping 9 percent.

Investment BNP Paribas Barclays