A weak business confidence index from Germany, Europe's core economy, weighed heavily on sentiment yesterday and markets streamed lower. On the week, however, the FTSE Eurotop 300 still closed roughly all square.
The telecoms equipment sector was all about a tale of two handset companies as Nokia reassured a nervous market with satisfactory results and in the process provoked a flurry of switching out of rival handset group Ericsson.
Although analysts were guarded in their reaction, Nokia surged to €22.65 shortly after the opening bell as third-quarter earnings at the top of the range of analysts' expectations and an upbeat trading statement sparked strong buying.
Inevitably, the latter part of the day saw profit-taking but even so the shares managed to finish as best performer in the FTSE Eurotop 100 index, adding 4.8 per cent at €22 with a massive €61 million changing hands. The figures were mostly seen as a management success story rather than a pointer to better times for the industry. As a result, Ericsson, which unwraps its own third quarter next Friday, tumbled 5.7 per cent to SKr41.40.
Oil stocks stayed weak in spite of a slight rally on the day for crude prices. With many commodity traders predicting a slide below the $20 a barrel level for crude in the near futures, the mood in equity markets remained bearish. There was also a degree of nervousness ahead of the run of results due next week from major US producers like Cononco and Exxon.
TotalFinaElf lost 2.9 per cent at €150.10 and Royal Dutch 3.3 per cent at €55.49 for a two-day decline of 7.4 per cent. Repsol fell 3.4 per cent to €15.41.
Club Med incurred investors' wrath after the holiday centre operator served up its third profits warning in a year. The shares fell 3.7 per cent to €36.55. Swiss leisure group Kuoni came off 5.5 per cent at SFr310.
