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Europe ends higher
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January 24, 2002: 12:54 p.m. ET
Techs and telecoms lifted by Nokia results, upbeat Greenspan comments
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LONDON (CNN) - European markets ended higher on Thursday, supported by strong Nokia results and positive words from U.S. Fed chairman Alan Greenspan.
Finland's Nokia soared 10 percent after posting strong fourth-quarter earnings, which beat its own estimates. The world's biggest mobile phone maker said sales should improve this year.
Sweden's Ericsson, the world's biggest supplier of high-speed mobile phone networks, was up 4.4 percent - but down from its session highs -- in Stockholm. It will report fourth-quarter numbers on Friday.
Meanwhile, Greenspan gave investors more to cheer about, telling the U.S. Senate Budget Committee that there were signs the economy is beginning to stabilise.
London's FTSE 100 climbed 1 percent to 5,233.1 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris rose 1.3 percent to 4,508.1 while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax was up 0.5 percent to 5,198.71 in late trading, with the German exchange set to close at 1900 GMT.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was up 1.3 percent, with the information technology, computer services, and electrical and electronics sectors among the big gainers.
Among Europe's closely watched stocks, French telecom equipment maker Alcatel (CGEP) was up 4.8 percent - but off its sessions highs -- and Vodafone (VOD), the British mobile phone giant, rose 4 percent.
STMicroelectronics (PSTM), Europe's biggest chip maker, rose 5.4 percent, No. 2 Infineon Technologies (FIFX) gained 3.8 percent in late Frankfurt trading, and third biggest Philips Electronics jumped 4.3 percent.
ARM Holdings (ARM), Europe's largest chip designer, was the top gainer in London, jumping 9.9 percent, and chip equipment supplier ASML climbed 4.3 percent in Amsterdam.
Autonomy (AUTN), which makes software to manage data on the Internet, soared 17 percent. The company posted a fourth-quarter pretax profit at the top end of expectations and said the third quarter was the bottom of its market.
British software company Misys (MSY) rose 3.9 percent after Chairman Kevin Lomax said he expected weak demand from banking customers to pick up this year. The company posted a first-half loss of £300,000 compared with a profit in the same period a year ago.
German electronics components maker Epcos [FSE:EPCGn] was up 3.5 percent in late trading, but off its highs for the session, while Siemens [FSE:SIEGn], the electronics and engineering giant, was up 0.7 percent, also off its highs, in Frankfurt. Siemens posted strong first-quarter earnings on Wednesday.
German drugs giant Bayer (BAYG) was up 1.9 percent in late trading in Frankfurt, on the same day that it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Vivendi Universal (PEX), Europe's biggest media company, was up 2.9 percent to  53.95 after Merrill Lynch upped its long-term price target to 67 while maintaining its "strong buy" recommendation on the stock.
Among Europe's smaller markets, Amsterdam's AEX index rose 2.3 percent and Milan's MIB30 index advanced 0.7 percent, while the SMI in Zurich gained 1.3 percent.
In the U.S. on Thursday, Wall Street rose on the latest positive corporate results, in particular Nokia and data storage systems maker EMC (EMC: up $2.42 to $16.98, Research, Estimates), and comments by Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan that the economy was showing signs of recovery.
At midday, the Nasdaq composite was up 25.83 points, or 1.34 percent, to 1,948.21, while the Dow Jones industrial average rose 91.26 points, or 0.9 percent, to 9,822.22. 
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