Europe ends higher

December 27, 2001 Posted: 1724 GMT

LONDON (CNN) -- European markets ended higher, led by automobile and technology stocks after a solid opening on Wall Street.

London's FTSE 100 edged up 0.7 percent to 5,213.2 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris gained 2 percent to reach 4,591.26, while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax rose 1.7 percent to 5,105.13.

The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was up 1.2 percent, with the information technology, auto and gas sectors all in positive territory.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 / FTSE 250 DAX 30 / DAX 100 CAC 40 / SBF 80

Oil firms provided a solid backdrop after Saudi Arabia said OPEC would announce an oil production cut on Friday.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Thursday he saw a consensus among OPEC oil ministers to cut oil production by 1.5 million barrels a day from January 1. The oil cartel meets in Cairo to agree the cut to prop up crude prices.

Brent Crude for February delivery soared 102 cents to $20.36 in London trading. Royal Dutch, which owns 60 percent of the world's second-largest oil company Royal/Dutch Shell, rose 1.6 percent in Amsterdam.

Auto stocks were among the biggest blue chip gainers as Volkswagen (VOW), Europe's biggest carmaker, added 3.3 percent and DaimlerChrysler (FDCX) gained 3.7 percent in Frankfurt, while French rival Renault (PRNO) rose 3.9 percent in Paris.

Technology stocks gained on the back of a Wednesday's rally on Wall Street. Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia rose 3.2 percent and Swedish rival Ericsson added 1.8 percent.

Among other technology stocks, Alcatel [LSE:PCGE], Europe's fourth-largest phone equipment maker, added 3.2 percent, and Philips Electronics, Europe's biggest consumer electronics company, gained 2.9 percent.

STMicroelectronics [PAR:PSTM], Europe's biggest chip maker, rose 2.5 percent in Paris.

German electronics component maker Epcos [FSE:FEPC], which Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said it had removed from its top pick list, dropped 2.5 percent. Parent Siemens [FSE:FSIE], Germany's largest telecom equipment maker, added 3 percent.

Italy's biggest bank, IntesaBCI, was up 4.2 percent after Brazil's Banco Itau offered to buy its Paris-based Banque Sudameris holding which has stakes in banks throughout Latin America.

Italian Internet-focused bank Bipop-Carire rose 2.5 percent in Milan after saying it was in advanced merger talks with Rome-based Banca di Roma. Banca di Roma slipped 1.2 percent.

Dutch banking group ING gained 4.6 percent to stand as the session's biggest blue-chip gainer.

In Amsterdam the AEX index climbed 2 percent and the SMI in Zurich was 0.7 percent higher, while Milan's MIB30 index added 1.7 percent.

Market Movers

TechMark 100 Nemax 50 Nouveau Marché

In the U.S., stock indexes edged higher at midday Thursday as investors nibbling on hard-hit technology stocks bet the Nasdaq composite index will snap a two-year losing streak in 2002.

Yahoo! rose for a second day as the portal emerged as the likely acquirer of HotJobs.com.

Yahoo!'s (YHOO: up $0.28 to $17.79, Research, Estimates) online sales nearly doubled this quarter and Wal-Mart (WMT: down $0.23 to $57.92, Research, Estimates) said December revenue will come in at the top end of targets.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.84 percent to 1,977.26, while the Dow Jones industrial average gained 32.7 points, or 0.3 percent, to 10,120.87.