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Dax spurts, CAC hurts
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December 8, 2000: 1:21 p.m. ET
Tech and drug stocks lift Dax, but Paris sputters amid late sell-off
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Europe's major markets headed mostly higher Friday, with Frankfurt's leading index climbing behind tech and drug companies while a late bout of selling submerged Paris.
Bourses pulled back from mid-session gains racked up after an upbeat open Wall Street as investors shrugged off woes at U.S. chipmaker Intel and took heart from a market-friendly U.S. jobs report.
"The market seems to be less prone to panic when there's an earnings warning," said Mike Young, a London-based equity strategist at Goldman Sachs. "There's the idea out there that perhaps the bad news has already been discounted in the market."
London's FTSE 100 index rose 56.9 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 6,288.3, led by an 14.4 percent advance for fiber-optic equipment maker Bookham Technology (BHM). For the week, the blue-chip UK index rose 1.9 percent.
In Paris, the CAC 40 fell at the close, dropping 45.37 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 5,939.32, led lower by food conglomerate Groupe Danone (PBN), which fell 5.2 percent. On the week, the CAC barely budged. 
The most buoyant performance among Europe's leading markets was turned in by Frankfurt, where after other markets closed the electronically traded Xetra Dax was up 125.17 points, or 1.9 percent, to 6,691.25. Drug stocks were joined atop the leader board with tech firms such as SAP (FSAP), Europe's biggest software maker, up 6.7 percent.
In Amsterdam, the AEX index rose 0.1 percent, the SMI in Zurich slipped 0.25 percent, and Milan's MIB30 inched up 0.4 percent.
 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
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, climbed 0.7 percent, with its computer services sector up 2.8 percent while the mining sector rallied 5 percent.
U.S. tech stocks bounded upward Friday. As top European bourses closed, the Nasdaq composite index was up 3.8 percent to 2,856.38 even after an earnings warning from chipmaker Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates), which rose 4.8 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 62.56 points to 10,679.92.
Immune to Intel blues?
Among European telecom stocks, French network equipment company Alcatel (PCGE) rose 1.7 percent  and U.K. business network operator COLT Telecom Group (CTM) rose 9.4 percent.
Mobile phone group and FTSE 100 heayweight Vodafone Group (VOD) added 0.7 percent and rival British Telecommunications (BT-A) rallied 5.4 percent. French telecom and construction company Bouygues (PEN) rose 4.1 percent in Paris.
Cell-phone maker Nokia fell slightly in Helsinki while Swedish rival Ericsson closed unchanged.
Technology stocks also rose. Dublin-based Internet security company Baltimore Technologies (BTM) rose 5.6 percent while Germany's engineering and electronics titan Siemens (FSIE3) added 4.1 percent and its separately traded subsidiary Epcos (FEPC), a maker of electronic components, rose 6.3 percent.
 In Paris, Canal Plus (PAN) shed 3.8 percent, after gaining 4.5 percent earlier in the day, as shareholders of Europe's biggest pay-TV company gave their approval for the three-way merger of Canal Plus, Vivendi (PEX) and Canada's Seagram (VO: Research, Estimates). Shares of Vivendi Universal, the merged company, start trading Monday, and it is expected to account for about 8 percent of the weight of the CAC.
Retailer Carrefour (PCA) fell 3.5 percent after announcing a disappointing 23 percent rise in November year-to-year sales to  6.1 billion. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter cut its recommendation on Carrefour to "neutral" from "outperform" and ABN Amro cut its earnings estimates for 2001.
French defense company EADS (PEAD) was up 5.9 percent amid optimism the company's Airbus Industrie division will proceed with development of the A3XX superjumbo.
In Frankfurt, chemical and drug companies led the Dax higher. Degussa Huels [FSE:FDHA ] rose 8.6 percent and Schering (FSCH) climbed 5.3 percent. Bayer (FBAY) rose 3.5 percent after saying it appointed investment banks Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank to advise it on its strategic options, although analysts said they don't expect the review to result in a company break-up or spinoffs.
Auto stocks moved up a gear. DaimlerChrysler (FDCX) climbed 2 percent as its struggling U.S. Chrysler unit unveiled plans to cut material costs by $6 billion, or 15 percent, over the next two years. Munich-based rival BMW (FBMW) rose 4.7 percent and Volkswagen (FVOW) 2.8 percent.
France's Renault (PRNO) rose 4.8 percent, although its compatriot, auto parts maker Valeo (PFR), fell 1.3 percent.
In the currency market, the euro traded at 88.65 U.S. cents, down from 88.84 cents in late U.S. trade Thursday.
-- from staff and wire reports 
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