European Closing Update: Markets Higher Despite Wall Street Wobble
LONDON -- The FTSE 100 started to wobble just ahead of the open on Wall Street, but it managed to regain some measure of respectability to end the day 46.0 points higher, or 0.7%, at 6,373.4.
Restraining trade in London is the
Bank of England's
monetary policy meeting and U.S. employment data later this week, as well as the
Federal Open Market Committee
meeting on May 16.
Nevertheless, technology stocks got a boost from the Nasdaq's rise overnight and the
Techmark
climbed 153.3 points, or 4.2%, to 3,825.3.
Tech shares were led higher by
London Bridge Software
, which split five-for-one today, and jumped 117p, or 17.5%, to 787 ($12,43). Not to be outdone,
Psion
climbed 624p, or 16.2%, to
44.61 as investors finally elected to respond to a raft of new deals and alliances announced over the past month relating to its
Symbian
mobile phone venture.
Baltimore Technologies
(BALTV)
rose 503p, or 7.8%, to
69.66, and
BATM Advanced Communications
closed 325p better, or 7.1%, at
48.87.
Freeserve
(FREE)
rose 37p, or 10.3%, to 397 on reports over the weekend that
T-Online
of Germany may be about to make a bid for the company. On the Neuer Markt
T-Online
surged 6.50 euros, or 15.7%, to 48.00.
Media stocks also did well, with
Pearson
rising 123p, or 5.6%, to
23.34, and
Reuters
(RTRSY)
up 51p, or 4.4%, to
12.00.
Telecom stocks experienced something of a roller coaster day. With
British Telecom
(BTY)
, every time you looked away from the screen not only did the price change, but also the direction. BT finally closed 21p higher, or 1.8%, at
11.72, having been as high as
11.87 at one point and as low as
11.21.
Kingston Communications
weighed in with a gain of 19p, or 2.4%, at 822, and
Colt Telecom
(COLTY)
climbed 209p, or 7.7%, to
29.38.
Europe's other bourses ended solidly in the plus column, with the
Xetra Dax
in Frankfurt up 141.24, or 1.9%, at 7555.92 and the
CAC 40
in Paris 142.69 higher, or 2.2%, at 6562.41. Frankfurt's technology segment the
Nemax All-Share
index of the Neuer Markt closed up 384.56, or 6.1%, at 6707.33.
Gains for German technology stocks were led by
Siemens
(SMWAY)
, which rose 6.02 euros, or 3.7%, to 169.02 ($154.75) after announcing a share buyback.
Software maker
SAP
(SAP) - Get Report
gained 19.50 euros, or 3%, to 668.00 and
Epcos
(EPC) - Get Report
trimmed early gains to close up 0.20 euros, or 0.1%, at 155.20.
Deutsche Telekom
(DT) - Get Report
closed up 3.61 euros, or 5.1%, to 75.00 and
France Telecom
(FTE)
finished 7.80 euros higher, or 4.6%, at 178.00.
Telefonica
(TEF) - Get Report
closed up 2.26 euros, or 9.2%, at 26.74, after announcing it was in merger talks with Dutch telco
KPN
, which ended 13.00 euros higher, or 11.6%, at 125.00.
Drugmaker
Bayer
(BAYZY)
was one of the day's biggest blue-chip losers, falling 1.43 euros, or 3.1%, to 44.40.
