KLM bounced off recent lows following weekend media reports that the airline planned big job and capacity cuts and an equity link with British Airways.
The reports countered some dismal July traffic figures from the Dutch flagship carrier and offset the strong message of slowing demand and growing competition that yesterday's first quarter results from BA gave the airlines sector.
But as ever, it was the talk of KLM's equity link with BA that caught the market's imagination. And the story appeared to gain credence on the news that BA and American Airlines were once again in joint venture talks.
Having dipped below €18 late last month, KLM rose 3.3 per cent to €19. Air France improved 0.8 per cent to €19.15 but Lufthansa was little changed.
Belgian brewer Interbrew looked distinctly hungover as the market judged it had paid over the odds for its move into the German beer market with its acquisition of Beck's.
Interbrew's shares fell 4.4 per cent to €28.50 after the company announced it was to acquire the German company for DM3.5 billion. Dealers conceded that the acquisition did fit well into Interbrew's overall strategy.
Mobile handset maker Nokia ran into profit-taking in spite of several strands of positive news. There was an unspecified contract to supply J-Phone, Japan's third biggest mobile operator, and UBS Warburg included the stock within its top five European technology picks.
Nokia has rallied by more than 20 per cent since its late July results statement. The stock came off 2.5 per cent at €24.51. Handsets rival Ericsson came down 1 per cent to SKr54.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/VR3765MFOBH2NMV2QNICYDF67M.png)