Paris closed higher, hauled up 100 points from its session low as the Nasdaq opened more strongly and good corporate news fuelled gains.
One of the star performers of the CAC was telecoms equipment maker Alcatel, with a gain of more than 9 per cent on record first-quarter results and plans to spin off its cable business. The shares added €24 at €275.50. SG Securities raised its target price for the stock to €380.
Glassmaker Saint-Gobain jumped 5.4 per cent to €160.30 after stronger-than-expected first-quarter sales. Traders also cheered disposal plans which will finance a share buyback.
Cement leader Lafarge fell 3.1 per cent at €90.35, reversing earlier gains, as news of its failed takeover bid for Britain's Blue Circle triggered several broker downgrades.
Frankfurt traded narrowly in subdued volumes as investors tracked developments in the currency and bond markets. It made for another nervous session. With both the euro and bonds at a low ebb there was little for equities to chase.
Deutsche Telekom was easily the day's most active stock meeting with steady selling ahead of next month's sale of a further tranche of shares in the group.
Further details should be available by the second week of June, but at this stage and with global stock markets in uncertain mood the German government is understandably keeping its cards close to its chest.
Best bets among brokers is that a further 10 per cent or some 20 billion worth of Telekom will be made available. The shares lost €3.09 or 4.4 per cent at €66.73.
Solid results got behind Deutsche Bank, up €1.71 at €75.74, and Lufthansa which gained 26 cents at €23.25. Adidas-Salomon slipped €2.50 to €66.50 on what was seen as a disappointing progress report.
Amsterdam finished modestly lower with Royal Dutch reversing early results-led gains. The AEX index ended off 4.77 at 665.07.
