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News > International
European markets rally
August 14, 2001: 12:18 p.m. ET

Techs regain some appeal as investors pick up stocks on the cheap
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LONDON (CNN) - European stock markets closed in upbeat mood Tuesday as investors picked up telecom and tech shares that had become cheaper after recent tumbles.

London's FTSE 100 rose 1.4 percent to close at 5,507.8, the blue-chip CAC 40 index in Paris climbed 0.9 percent to 4,962.64, and Frankfurt's Xetra Dax was up 1.3 percent at 5,521.73 in late trading.

 Market Movers
graphic FTSE 100 / FTSE 250
graphic DAX 30 / DAX 100
graphic CAC 40 / SBF 80
 
Software and phone-related stocks, many of which have borne the brunt of selling as markets retreated in recent weeks, attracted buyers across the region.

Computer consultant Misys (MSY) rose 5.2 percent and rival Logica (LOG) gained 4.3 percent, topping the FTSE 100 leader board in London. French IT service provider Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (PCAP) mirrored their rise, adding 4.7 percent, while SAP (FSAP), Europe's biggest software firm, was among the leading gainers in late trading on Frankfurt's Dax, with an advance of 2.7 percent.

Telecom operators and equipment makers were also among the top gainers. The field was led by Deutsche Telekom (FDTE), Europe's biggest phone company by sales, which rose 4.2 percent after investment Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the stock to "recommended" from "market outperform."

In London, the world's biggest wireless phone operator, Vodafone (VOD), rose 4.1 percent, while Internet data carrier Energis (EGS) rebounded from repeated declines last week with a gain of 4.3 percent.

Goldman comments lift chip stocks

Infineon Technologies (FIFX), the continent's No. 2 semiconductor maker, ticked up 3.2 percent and Dutch rival Philips Electronics gained 1.6 percent, both stocks continuing to benefit from Monday's supportive comments on the chip industry from merchant bank Goldman Sachs.

Among related technologies, Europe's biggest chip designer, ARM Holdings (ARM), rose 3.6 percent, while ASML, a Dutch maker of semiconductor-manufacturing equipment, rose 2.9 percent.

Other sectors to shine included banking and financial services after UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, posted a smaller-than-expected 26 percent drop in second-quarter profit.

UBS soared more than 6 percent, rival Credit Suisse Group gained 3.9 percent, U.K. merchant bank Schroders (SDR) gained 3.8 percent and Deutsche Bank (FDBK) added 2.3 percent.

German financial services company MLP climbed 2 percent in Frankfurt. The firm said first-half pretax profit rose 32.5 percent to graphic53.8 million ($48.4 million), helped by its consultancy unit and growth in insurance and fund management.

There were mixed fortunes for makers of telecommunications equipment. Finland's Nokia, the world's biggest cell phone maker, climbed 2.7 percent in Helsinki, with traders saying recent worries the company might be on the brink of a profit warning had receded. Sweden's Ericsson, the biggest supplier of high speed wireless infrastructure, rose 4.8 percent, and in Paris, phone equipment maker Alactel (PCGE) added 3.1 percent.

 Market Movers
graphic TechMark 100
graphic Nemax 50
graphic Nouveau Marché
 
But British telecom equipment maker Marconi (MONI) plunged 12 percent to 74 pence after Goldman Sachs cut its forecast of the company's share price to 55 pence from 120 pence. The decline prompted speculation that Marconi is set to be relegated from the FTSE 100 index, as it has fallen in terms of market value out of the ranks of Britain's biggest 100 companies.

Spirent  (SPT), a maker of equipment for testing telecom networks, also was down sharply, shedding 9.1 percent.

In Germany, earnings reports from two chemicals companies sent their shares in opposite directions. Degussa (FDGX) climbed 2 percent after saying second-quarter earnings rose a better-than-expected 17 percent. But Henkel (FHEN3) was the Dax index's biggest faller, dropping 4.4 percent after its report that profit for the first half was up 6 percent from a year earlier.

The AEX index in Amsterdam climbed 1.1 percent and the SMI in Zurich rose 1.7 percent. Milan's MIB30 index was up 0.8 percent.

The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was up 1.2 percent, with the information technology sub-index rising 3.1 percent and the telecom sector  adding 2.5 percent.

In the U.S., a report showed that retail sales in July were unchanged from the previous month's level, beating the expectations of Wall Street economists, who had forecast a decline in sales.

Bolstered by the better-than-expected state of consumer demand, the Nasdaq Composite index and the Dow Jones industrial average hovered close to their previous closing levels by late morning in New York. graphic

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.