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Europe ends higher on techs
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July 30, 2001: 11:56 a.m. ET
Buying in tech stocks leads European bourses to a higher close
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LONDON (CNN) - Europe's top bourses closed higher on Monday, lifted by a surge of interest in technology shares.
Earlier in the day, markets had been in the red as investors awaited economic news from the U.S., but sentiment was boosted when market players piled into tech shares on the view they represented good value.
David Thwaites, European strategist at BNP Paribas, told Reuters: "This is just based on a view that some techs look oversold short term.
"It's technical trading, there is still no real positive news on the economy and the reports were pretty dire last week."
Technology stocks were also given a boost after Europe's biggest computer services company, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (PCAP), said first-half profit rose 15 percent on its $11 billion Ernst & Young acquisition. The company's shares closed 3.3 percent higher in Paris.
London's FTSE 100 rose 0.9 percent to end at 5,449.2, with software company CMG (CMG) topping the gainers, soaring 11.5 percent higher.
Business data services company Energis (EGS) was close behind, ending up by 11.1 percent.
Europe's biggest chip designer ARM Holdings (ARM) rose more than 6 percent while beleaguered telecoms equipment company Marconi (MONI) ended 7.2 percent higher.
Business services provider Colt Telecom (CTM) was up 7.7 percent.
Media group Pearson (PSON) recovered and rose 6.2 percent following early losses after posting a loss as advertising revenue declined amid a global economic slowdown.
In Paris, the CAC 40 blue chip index ended 1.3 percent higher at 5,033.71
with software company Dassault Systemes (PDSY) leading the gainers, up 6.9 percent.
France Telecom (PFTE) was 4.2 percent higher and consumer electronics company Thomson Multimedia (PHO) rose 3.5 percent.
Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax was 0.9 percent higher at 5,804.34 with the largest European electronic components maker, Epcos (FEPC) leading advancers with a rise of 6.2 percent.
Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) climbed 2.3 percent.
In Amsterdam, the AEX index was 1.6 percent higher and the SMI in Zurich was up by 0.6 percent. Milan's MIB30 index climbed 0.9 percent.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was up by 1.5 percent, with the information technology sector leading the way with a 4.4 percent rise.
"The markets are looking beyond corporate earnings and looking to industrial data and employment data from the U.S. to see what kind of economic recovery we can expect," Ben Rudd, market strategist at HSBC, told CNN.
U.S. stocks were little changed in early Monday trading as investors struggled to shake off the impression left by two weeks of negative corporate results in order to focus on hopes of an economic turnaround.
Not helping matters were pessimistic comments from three analysts about the outlook for the Standard & Poor's 500 issues.
"People are holding their breaths, waiting for an impetus to move," said David Briggs, head of equity trading at Federated Investors. "If we have a
good week, it's possible that it could be pivotal in terms of setting direction for the rest of the summer."
In mid-morning trade, the Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.96 to 2,028.11 while the Dow Jones industrial average added 4.57 to 10,422. 
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