The German government's decision to delay a proposed ban on reprocessing nuclear waste sent shares in some utility companies soaring in Frankfurt. RWE rocketed #4.50 or 11.8 per cent to #42.60, Veba climbed #2.95 to #52.90 and Viag was #1 higher at #452.
The German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, said earlier this week that the ban, originally due to start next year, would be delayed because Germany did not have sufficient alternative waste storage capacity. The renewed strength in the utilities helped to provide support to the Xetra Dax, which closed 37.02 higher at 5,038.21.
Degussa, the chemicals and metals group, gave up #1.25 to #36.40 as it continued to be punished for lower-than-expected-quarterly earnings, disclosed on Monday.
Paris ended just above its session-low, finishing up 26.82 at 4,098.10 after touching 4,149.70 in early trading. Foods group Danone was the day's hot stock, going limit-up at one stage and closing with a gain of 8.9 per cent or #18.60 at #228.50 following strong results, which helped lift the clouds that descended on the sector last week when Swiss rival Nestle unexpectedly warned of slack sales and shrinking operating margins.
Sentiment was also boosted when Goldman Sachs added Danone to its European recommended list and lifted its price target by 25 per cent to #265.
STMicroelectronics surged #3.70 to #85.10 after shares in the Franco-Italian chips group were upgraded by two heavyweight brokers.
Building materials shares were also firm in the wake of strong housing starts for December. Lafarge rose #1.60 to #75 and Bouygues added #10 at #165. Saint Gobain, which publishes 1998 results today, jumped to #126.30 before settling #2 lower at #118.50.
Weak features included Elf Aquitaine, down #2.85 at #93.15 for a two-day fall of 7 per cent, and France Telecom, #2.10 weaker at #79.40.
Amsterdam gave up early gains to close with the AEX index modestly ahead at 531.69, up 5.05.
Media group Elsevier jumped 55 cents to #13.90, in a brisk 19.5 million shares traded, on rumours that the media group's search for a new chief executive was about to come to an end with an announcement before the end of the week.
Helsinki was a strong performer as Nokia powered higher before 1998 results tomorrow and as forestries surged on hopes that internal restructuring could help profitability.
Nokia helped push the Hex index above the 6,000 level. Nokia added #2.70 to #125.20 and the index closed 154.85 or 2.6 per cent higher at 6,128.19.
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