LONDON (CNNfn) - European stock markets closed higher Wednesday, led by a resurgence of "old economy" stocks such as chemical and financial companies. Mobile phone and telecom equipment makers rose on expectations that U.S. rival Motorola will post a doubling in second-quarter profit.
The Xetra Dax in Frankfurt climbed 61.99 points, or 0.89 percent, to 7,065.97, with chemicals firm BASF and Europe's biggest software company, SAP, among the top gainers.
 London's FTSE 100 index rose 42.7 points, or almost 0.7 percent, to 6,518.5 after a sluggish start, with Britain's biggest chemicals company, ICI, and insurer Legal & General leading the index higher.
The CAC 40 index in Paris added 46.56 points, or 0.7 percent, to reach 6,536.91, led by glass and packaging maker Saint-Gobain and cement maker Lafarge.
The SMI index in Zurich fell 0.4 percent, led by UBS, the country's largest bank, which dropped 2.7 percent to 236 Swiss francs after announcing a friendly $10.8 billion offer to buy U.S. securities brokerage PaineWebber (PWJ: Research, Estimates).
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index, a basket of the region's largest companies, rose 0.9 percent to 1,635.26, with its chemicals sub-index up more than 3.4 percent.
U.S. markets were mixed Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising 0.8 percent while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.6 percent at the Europe close.
In the currency market, the euro fell against the dollar, trading at 94.17 U.S. cents after fetching 95.20 cents in late trade in New York Tuesday.
"A better-than-expected quarterly earnings report Tuesday from Web portal Yahoo! (YHOO: Research, Estimates) has really provided some buoyancy to technology stocks," Dhaval Joshi, a global equity strategist at SG Securities in London, told CNNfn.com. "But the major event after the U.S. market closes will be Motorola (MOT: Research, Estimates). That will give us a good indication as to where European telecom stocks are going."
Shares in cell phone maker Nokia rose 1.3 percent in Finland, and Ericsson jumped 2.6 percent in Stockholm, Sweden. Motorola is expected to report its second-quarter profit nearly doubled from a year ago amid improved sales
In London, the world's biggest mobile phone company, Vodafone AirTouch (LSE), jumped 2.8 percent after Dutch rival Royal KPN announced a three-way pact with Japan's NTT DoCoMo and Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa to bid on next-generation mobile-phone licenses in Europe.
Royal KPN and DoCoMo will pay £2.1 billion for a 35 percent stake in Hutchison's third-generation mobile phone business in Britain. Vodafone paid almost £6 billion for its license.
"The perception is, maybe Vodafone didn't pay over the odds for its U.K. 3G [mobile phone] license," Joshi said. KPN lost 0.8 percent in Amsterdam.
Banking and financial stocks rose for a second session. HSBC Holdings (HSBC) topped the gainers on the FTSE 100, jumping 5.4 percent, Barclays (BARC) climbed 2 percent, Lloyds-TSB (LLOY) gained 1.1 percent, and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBOS) jumped 3.2 percent.
Investment bank Schroders (SDR) advanced 3.9 percent and insurer Legal & General (LGEN) leapt 4.5 percent. The world's biggest insurance company, AXA [PAR:P ], climbed almost 2.6 percent in Paris.
 Shares of British Internet service provider Freeserve (FRE) rose 1.3 percent after the Yahoo! report. Electronics vendor Dixons (DXNS), Freeserve's parent, shed 1.9 percent.
Information technology consulting firm Misys (MSY) added 4.8 percent and rival Sage Group (SGE) jumped 4.1 percent.
Outside the FTSE 100, software developer DCS Group (DCS) plunged 32.4 percent after warning that it expects its first-half results to fall short of the market's expectations.
In the media sector, financial news and data company Reuters Group (RTR) climbed 5.1 percent, and the world's biggest advertising company, WPP Group (WPP), rose 2.2 percent.
In the telecom sector, shares of Cable & Wireless (CW-) topped the losers board, falling 4.4 percent, British Telecom (BT-) lost almost 2 percent, and telecom equipment maker Marconi (MNI) dropped 3.1 percent.
In Paris, glass and packaging maker Saint-Gobain (PSGO) jumped 4.5 percent, cement maker Lafarge (PLGE) climbed 3.5 percent, and hotel firm Accor (PAC) rose 2.6 percent.
Some telecom stocks were firmer: Bouygues (PEN), the owner of country's third-biggest mobile-phone business, rose 4.8 percent and France Telecom (PFTE) advanced 1.6 percent.
Auto shares were mostly weaker. Tire maker Michelin (PML) fell 1 percent, carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen (PUG) fell 1.3 percent and rival Renault (PRNO) dropped 1.6 percent. But auto parts company Valeo (PFR) rose 2.5 percent.
Defense systems company Thomson-CSF (PHO) lost 4.8 percent, while Europe's biggest aerospace and defense company, EADS, climbed 1.4 percent.
Chemicals, techs among Frankfurt movers
Germany's technology sector was strong in early trading. Chip firm Infineon Technology (FIFX) rose 2.2 percent and electronics and engineering company Siemens (FSIE) rose 5.1 percent. Software firm SAP (SAP) climbed 5.7 percent, and electronic components makers Epcos (FEPC) soared 6.4 percent.
Among Frankfurt chemicals companies, BASF (FBAS) jumped 4.8 percent, leading the Dax's gainers. Bayer (FBAY) rose 4.3 percent and drug maker Schering (FSCH) added 1.9 percent. Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) surged 5.2 percent in London.
Consumer products maker Henkel (FHEN) dropped 1.9 percent, leading the list of losers in Germany.
Shares of telecom powerhouse Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) fell almost 3 percent after the Financial Times reported the former monopoly was poised to bid $32 billion for U.S.-based mobile-phone provider VoiceStream Wireless (VSTR: Research, Estimates).
Banking stocks weakened. HypoVereinsbank (FHVM) fell 3.1 percent, Deutsche Bank (FDBK) lost 2.6 percent, and Commerzbank (FCBK) added 2 percent.
Engineering company and forklift maker Linde (FLIN) added almost 3 percent on top of Tuesday's 1.1 percent gain, after the company won a contract worth roughly  350 million ($332 million) to build the world's largest olefin plant in Iran. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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