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Europe ends mixed
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December 18, 2001: 12:25 p.m. ET
Media stocks hold their ground, insurers slip as Axa falls
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LONDON (CNN) - European markets were mixed late on Tuesday, with media stocks holding ground, as AXA sent a chill through the insurance sector.
London's FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to 5,156.8 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris was up 0.2 at 4,492.54, while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax slipped 0.2 percent to 5,057.36.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was up .09 percent, with the media and computer sectors higher.
French media giant Vivendi Unversal (PEX) rose 4 percent after announcing on Monday it was buying the entertainment assets of USA Networks for $10.3 billion. On Friday, Vivendi said it had bought a stake in U.S. satellite network Echostar Communications for $1.5 billion.
Rumours of a possible takeover bid of Britian's Cordiant by French advertising company Publicis, which both firms denied, boosted other advertising groups such as UK giant WPP (WPP), which rose 5.2 percent.
U.K. publishing group Pearson (PSON) dropped 5.3 percent after it warned that profits this year from its education division would fall short of forecasts due to worsening market conditions. It said full-year profits from its FT Group division, which publishes the Financial Times newspaper, would drop 40 percent.
German software group SAP climbed 2.2 percent, and German IT hardware company Siemens rose 1.2 percent, while French telecom equipment group Alcatel dropped 1.6 percent.
Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone company, was up 0.5 percent, and Swedish telecom giant Ericsson was down 1.7 percent.
British Airways (BAY) soared 7.3 percent despite the U.S. Justice Department saying on Monday the proposed alliance between Europe's second largest carrier and American Airlines should be rejected unless certain conditions are met to ensure there's competition in the sector.
French insurance group Axa (PCS) fell 6.9 percent after saying it expected to post net cash earnings of  1.2 billion, well below expectations, in 2001 and would see earnings rise by 20 percent on 2002, despite claims following the attacks on New York and Washington.
Axa's news sent a chill through the sector with top insurers hogging the blue chip decliner's column. Dutch group ING Groep and Germany's Munich Re both shed 1.7 percent.
In Amsterdam, the AEX index rose .05 percent and the SMI in Zurich fell 0.5 percent, and Milan's MIB30 index was down 1.06 percent.
In the U.S., blue chip stocks pulled back from the day's highs, but remained higher at midday Tuesday on a positive forecast from General Electric and strong performances from traditional defensive names in the drug and manufacturing sectors.
The Nasdaq composite index was up 3.62 points, or .18 percent, to 1,991.07. The Dow Jones industrial average was 50.8 points higher, or 0.5 percent, to 9,942.76. 
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