European Midday Update: Markets Higher as ECB Intervenes

LONDON -- European markets were higher in a hectic start to the week with a raft of earnings results and more intervention by the European Central Bank in the foreign exchange markets.

By midday, the FTSE 100 was up 30 points at 6416. On the Continent, the CAC-40 in Paris was up 17 points at 6416 and the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt was up 42 points at 7170.

The ECB said that it intervened for the third time in two trading days to boost the value of the euro. Like Friday's interventions, the ECB acted alone, without help from the U.S. and Japan. Alas, it didn't do much for the euro, with it rising by about 1 cent to $0.8720 before falling back again to trade around 0.8673.

In London, British Telecom (BTY Quote) rose 15p to 765 ($11.09) on hopes that it will detail its strategic review -- which will likely include a spinoff of its mobile arm -- when it releases its fiscal first-half results on Thursday. Deutsche Bank analyst Nigel Cobby believes that BT is a clear buy, although he cautions that it is only a brave investor who buys before earnings. He adds that it is almost inevitable that the market will be disappointed by any BT announcement on its break-up.

Vodafone (VOD Quote), however, is looking a little weak. There has been some heavy selling over the past few sessions, but technically the stock looks as if it's caught in a trading range between 234p and 295p. Therefore, at its current level of 247p, a fall of 6p, the stock seems closer to its bottom than its top. Reports also emerged that Vodafone has been chosen by Switzerland's Swisscom (SCM Quote) as the international partner for its mobile subsidiary Mobil Com. Vodafone will apparently take a 25% stake in Mobil Com. Swisscom rose 11.00 euros to 306.00.

The tech sector looks nervous as investors gear up for a host of results both in Europe and the U.S. The Techmark 100 was down 11 points to 3,489. As well as Cisco's (CSCO Quote) earnings later today, the U.K. will see results this week from firms like Baltimore Technologies (BALT Quote), Bookham Technology (BKHM Quote) and Dimension Data.

Banks were mixed as reports continue to pour out about the talks between Abbey National and Bank of Scotland. There appears to be a clash of egos, as Abbey is angling for a takeover, while BoS sees more of a merger of equals. Abbey shed 9.5p to 10.30, but Bank of Scotland gained 16p to 706.

British Airways (BAB Quote) was flying on the back of excellent second-quarter results. The company posted an operating profit of 264 million compared with 117 million for the same period last year. In line with its strategy to move to the higher end of the market, the company announced that it is to sell its low-cost carrier Go. The shares were up 23p at 353.