European Closing Update: Stocks Sprint Higher
LONDON -- Returning from a long holiday weekend, the U.K. equity markets put in a solid performance Tuesday. The highfliers were mostly confined to the technology, media and telecoms sectors, although selected smokestacks also built up a head of steam.
The
FTSE 100
jumped 142.7 points to 6,359.6, while the
Techmark Index
of leading technology stocks climbed 135.2 to 3,143.3.
Freeserve
(FREE)
shone brightly adding 94p to 486 ($7.25), while parent company
Dixons
(DXNGY)
rose 46p to 320, as the market warmed to rumors that the company may go for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and sell its 80% stake in Freeserve to T-Online of Germany.
Vodafone AirTouch
(VOD) - Get Report
led the telecom sector up as it responded positively to better-than-expected annual results and the well-signposted sale of
Orange
to
France Telecom
(FTE)
, with a juicy gain of 21p to 302.
British Telecom
(BTY)
ignored competition worries caused by the latest Oftel ruling, and jumped 72p to 969.
Colt Telecom
(COLT)
cruised on 134p to
23.41, and
Cable & Wireless
(CWP)
sailed ahead 110p to
11.40.
Energis
(ENGSY)
was boosted by its latest e-commerce acquisition and gained 255p to
26.00.
Bookham Technology
(BKHM)
led the tech stocks higher with a gain of 300p at
30.75, while
BATM Advanced Communications
took a 250p rise to close at
36.40.
Pace Micro Technology
jumped 105p to 875 following an upbeat trading statement.
But not all tech stocks soared,
Logica
, for one, was unable to sustain an early rise and ended the session with a fall of 56p to
16.42.
Europe's other stock markets finished Tuesday higher, also lead by telecom and technology shares. The
Xetra Dax
in Frankfurt closed up 102.6, or 1.5%, at 7,119.3 and the
CAC 40
in Paris ended 120.4 higher, or 1.9%, at 6,325.5. The
Neuer Markt's
tech-heavy
Nemax 50
index closed up 203.3, or 3.5%, at 5,948.6.
In Frankfurt blue-chip techs were mixed, with
Siemens
(SMWAY)
closing down 0.44 euros, or 0.3%, at 155.56 euros ($144.15),
Epcos
(EPC) - Get Report
up 4.19 euros, or 3.4%, at 127.35 and software maker
SAP
(SAP) - Get Report
erasing losses to end up 3.51 euros, or 0.7%, at 551.00.
Neuer Markt
listed Internet service provider
T-Online
was able to build on Monday's gains amid speculation the company was considering a $9-billion bid for leading British ISP
Freeserve
(FREE)
. T-Online finished up 0.65 euros, or 1.7%, at 38.40.
Major European telecoms finished Tuesday higher, as
Telefonica
(TEF) - Get Report
climbed 0.68 euros, or 3.1%, to 22.33 and France Telecom rose 4.50 euros, or 3.1%, to 148.90, erasing early losses.
Deutsche Telekom
(DT) - Get Report
closed up 2.58 euros, or 4.1%, at 65.00, after the company released details of the upcoming share sale of 7% of the German government's stake.
