European equities overcame a mid-afternoon wobble to close broadly higher in spite of a dull start on Wall Street. Frankfurt closed almost 2 per cent higher, reflecting strong performances by a number of blue chips, although some investors pulled out of Hypo-Vereinsbank. The Xetra Dax index closed 99.36 higher at 5,180.29.
Hypo-Vereinsbank tumbled €2.03 to €57.37 as it dismissed outright a report by the little known Association of Financial Service Providers that the bank needed to write down an additional DM11 billion (€5.62 billion)of assets. The other banks benefited from switching. Commerzbank put on 28 cents to €26.30, Deutsche Bank picked up €2.29 to €49.70 and Dresdner Bank rose €1.05 to €35.50.
Deutsche Telekom rose €2.34 to €40.19, extending Thursday's rises on revived rumours of a possible bid for Cable & Wireless. Hoechst put on €3.05 to €38.40, also extending a rise on Thursday after its merger partner, Rhone-Poulenc, reported 1998 results in the black. MAN put on €14 to €238 as the Ford-Volvo deal raised speculation that the German group was in line for a link-up.
Paris had a volatile session, swinging within a range of 138 points on the CAC-40 index as the main futures contract expired. The benchmark ended 52.13 higher at 4,251.80.
Electrical equipment group Legrand and Air Liquide, the industrial and medical gases leader, both fell on disappointing sales reports. The former shed €13 at €197 and Liquide came off €8.40 at €144.1.
Rumours linking the group with other global motor giants continued to support Renault, which gained €3.88 or 8.6 per cent at €49. Peugeot added €4.10 at €149.60.
Rhone-Poulenc stayed firm following Thursday's positive trading statement. Sentiment was also boosted by an upgrade to "buy" at Deutsche Bank and the shares added €1 at €46.30.
Amsterdam dipped 7.02 to 531.96 on the AEX index with broad weakness for the Dutch heavyweights overriding a dramatic surge at Nedlloyd. The shipping group jumped €1.20 or 11.6 per cent to €11.55 for a two-day advance of more than 15 per cent following a recent press report suggesting a sharp rise for container rates on some Far East routes.
Telecoms leader KNP slipped €1.25 at €48.75. Media stocks were dull. VNU fell €1.75 or 4.6 per cent at €36. HELSINKI was dominated by Nokia, which saw wild swings following its 1998 profit report, a share split announcement and an assessment of its prospects. Nokia reached an all time high of €133.90 ahead of its announcement that pre-tax profits rose 74 per cent. By the close, Nokia was €1.20 weaker at €126.30 and the Hex index had edged up 10.22 to 6,173.51.
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