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European markets end higher
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September 27, 2001: 12:09 p.m. ET
Chips stocks decline offset by 'safe haven' sectors
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LONDON (CNN) - Europe's major bourses ended higher on Thursday, bolstered by energy, drug and insurance stocks.
Technology shares had earlier dropped after analysts on Wednesday slashed industry bellwether Intel's earnings estimates.
London's FTSE 100 closed 1.2 percent higher at 4,750.9, while the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris ended up by nearly 1 percent at 4,013.23. Frankfurt's Xetra Dax climbed 1.8 percent at 4,168.30.
A widely expected decision by the ECB to keep interest rates on hold at 3.75 percent had little effect on the markets.
Oil stocks surged after OPEC said it would hold output steady. Analysts said many investors saw the stocks as oversold following heavy losses on Monday.
BP (BP-), the world's third-largest publicly traded oil firm, rose 3.6 percent in London and Shell Transport & Trading, which owns 40 percent of the world's second-largest publicly traded oil company, climbed 3.7 percent. Royal Dutch was up 3.4 percent in Amsterdam.
TotalFinaElf (PFP) closed 3.2 percent higher in Paris.
Drug companies, seen as a safe haven for investors during troubled times, rose across Europe.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Europe's biggest drugs company, rose 4.9 percent in London, while AstraZeneca (AZN) closed nearly 5 percent higher.
Aventis (PAVE), gained 3.7 percent in Paris, while Schering (FSCH) rose 3.4 percent in Frankfurt. BASF (FBAS) was up 0.3 percent after falling earlier when the company said it was increasingly unlikely it would meet its three-year income growth target. Its shares fell 1.7 percent.
Insurers also rose after being battered recently on concerns over their liabilities related to the attacks U.S.
AXA (PCS), the world's biggest insurance company, ended 4.3 percent higher on the CAC 40 index, while Allianz (FALZ), Europe's second largest insurer, was up 4.9 percent on the Xetra Dax.
In Amsterdam the AEX index fell 0.1 percent while the SMI in Zurich was 1.8 percent higher. Milan's MIB30 index was up 2.5 percent.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, rose 1.2 percent, pushed higher by the oil and gas, drug and insurance sectors.
In late morning trading in the U.S. on Thursday, stocks came off their lows but tech shares continued to languish after analysts cut earnings forecasts for sector leaders.
News that U.S. jobless claims jumped 58,000 to 450,000 – the highest level in more than nine years – also damaged sentiment.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 35 points at 8,532, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 35 points, hitting 1,428. 
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