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Autos drive Paris, Frankfurt
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October 2, 2000: 2:39 p.m. ET
FTSE ends in slump after late sell-off for drug maker; media stocks ail
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Stock markets in Paris and Frankfurt cruised higher Monday with automotive stocks in the lead, but London stalled amid a late sell-off for leading media and drug-sector names.
The CAC 40 in Paris rose 82.61 points, or 1.3 percent, to close at 6,349.24, with broad strength affecting carmakers and consumer electronics company Thomson Multimedia (PTMM), which rose 7.9 percent to top gainers.
The Xetra Dax in Frankfurt ended up 64.14 points, or 0.94 percent, to 6,862.26, with Volkswagen (FVOW) and BMW (FBMW) each ahead more than 2 percent. Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) added 3.1 percent.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index closed down 9.7 points, or 0.15 percent, to 6,284.5, with a late slide for drug makers such as AstraZeneca (AZN), which fell 3.4 percent, and weakness for media firms submerging the index.
 click here for the biggest movers on the ftse 100 in London
 click here for the biggest movers on the dax 30 in Frankfurt
 click here for the biggest movers on the cac 40 in Paris
On other European bourses, the SMI in Zurich added 2.3 percent, clawing back from Friday's 2.8-percent loss, while Amsterdam's AEX index rose 0.7 percent and Milan's MIB30 rose 1.4 percent.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broad index of the region's largest stocks, was up 0.7 percent, with its automotive sub-index climbing 2 percent while the computer services component jumped 2.7 percent.
In currency dealings, the euro softened against the U.S. dollar, buying 88.03 U.S. cents, down from 87.92 cents in New York late Friday.
"There may be some help for the euro if the European Central Bank raises interest rates," Steve Barrow, a currency economist at investment bank Bear Stearns, told CNNfn. Barrow said he expects a 25 basis-point rise when the bank holds its monthly interest-rate policy meeting Thursday.
European investors were also expected to be on the lookout for Tuesday's meeting of U.S. Federal Reserve policy makers, who are widely expected to leave interest rates untouched in the run-up to the presidential election there next month.
Techs rally October 2, 2000: 1:27 p.m. ET
Computer service providers rallied in London. CMG (CMG) added 8.1 percent and rival Logica (LOG) climbed 4.9 percent. Lehman Brothers reiterated its "buy" rating on CMG, citing an industry report last week revising up by 50 percent its targets for use of mobile-phone messaging in December. 
Among other high-tech gainers, French chipmaker STMicroelectronics (PSTM) climbed 2.4 percent in Paris while its German rival Infineon Technologies (FIFX) added 1.9 percent in Frankfurt. Europe's biggest software company SAP (FSAP) added 2.5 percent.
Dragging on the FTSE was Vodafone AirTouch (VOD), the world's biggest mobile phone company, which fell 0.6 percent.
Muddled media landscape
In the media business, one of the few gainers was publisher Reed International (REED), up 3.5 percent. Among losers in the sector, however, were publisher Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), down 7.2 percent, and rival Emap (EMAP), off 4.4 percent.
Music publisher EMI Group (EMI) fell 4.1 percent amid lingering concern that its planned joint venture with CNNfn's parent Time Warner (TWX: Research, Estimates) may be blocked by the European Union on antitrust grounds. EMI shares fell 4.4 percent Friday.
In Paris, media, broadcaster TF1 (PTFI) shed 3.8 percent.
Automakers oddly hit all cylinders
The auto sector led the way in Paris and Frankfurt despite a report Monday showing that French new car sales fell 5.1 percent in September from the year-ago month. Renault (PRNO) added 4.7 percent and rival PSA Peugeot Citroen (PUG) rose 4.4 percent as traders cited upbeat news emerging from the Paris motor show. 
Among German automakers, Volkswagen (FVOW) climbed 3.1 percent, BMW (FBMW) tacked on 2.2 percent, to a year high, and DaimlerChrysler (FDCX) added 0.6 percent.
In Amsterdam, Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASM Lithography slumped 6.1 percent after the company announced it is buying rival Silicon Valley Group (SVG: Research, Estimates) for  1.8 billion ($1.4 billion) in stock. 
--from staff and wire reports
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