Tech stocks remain volatile without US guidance

On a day when there was no guidance from US markets, Europe's technology stocks remained volatile, swinging up after three days of falls.

The sector was led by German chipmaker Infineon which jumped 9.2 per cent to €22.03, supported by strengthening chip prices. The standard D-Ram 128 megabit chip has risen 70 per cent in the last two weeks, albeit from a low base. STMicroelectronics added 3.9 per cent to €38.85 and chip equipment maker ASML rose 5.7 per cent to €20.34.

Epcos, the German electronic components maker, was another winner, in spite of a broker downgrade. The shares rose 5 per cent to €56.23. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein cut its rating from "buy" to "hold" following Epcos's results earlier this week. The bank cited "weak short-term fundamentals and relatively high valuations".

The big telecommunications equipment makers were all well ahead. Nokia put an end to three days of falls with a gain of 4.1 per cent to €27.45, while Alcatel was up 4.4 per cent and Ericsson more than 7 per cent. But the Belgian image technology group Agfa Gevaert slipped a little after announcing third-quarter results. The company, which has issued four profits warnings this year, reported a fall in operating profit of 62 per cent for the third quarter and a 7 per cent fall in sales. The shares shed 0.6 per cent to €11.01.

In telecom stocks KPN led the sector higher with a jump of 10 per cent to €5.49 while France Telecom gained 2.4 per cent to €46.60. Swisscom managed a gain of 0.9 per cent to Swiss Francs 447.50 in spite of a cut by WestLB Panmure from "outperform" to "neutral". Swisscom beat expectations with its results on Wednesday but WestLB said that its "outlook and strategy are worrying".

Crude oil prices continued to rally amid increasing signs that the big producers are keen to avert a price war. An output cut from Norway was good news for sentiment.

But perhaps the key indication came from Moscow where Viktor Khristenko, the deputy prime minister, said Russia was ready to take measures to arrive at stable and fair oil prices. Crude immediately jumped, pushing up through $20 a barrel for Brent Blend, and the big oil stocks were not far behind. Royal Dutch rose 1.4 per cent to €56.80 and TotalFinaElf 1.4 per cent to €149.90. Repsol added 3.3 per cent at €16.20 and Enia was 2 per cent better at 13.59 in late trading.

Aceralia and Arbed reacted positively to the renegotiated terms of their merger with Usinor. The pair are to receive a combined 46.2 per cent of the new grouping, up from earlier proposals of 43.5 per cent.