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Results ease Europe's fears
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July 26, 2001: 11:50 a.m. ET
Bourses higher at close amid relief latest earnings are not as bad as expected
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LONDON (CNN) - Europe's stock markets ended higher on Thursday after investors expressed relief that earnings from Alcatel and others were no worse than expected.
Alcatel (PCGE), Europe's fourth-largest telecom operator, closed 4.7 percent higher in Paris – topping the leader board on the CAC 40.
The company posted a  3.1 billion ($2.8 billion) loss and announced job cuts 20,000 for the year in a bid to save 1 billion annually.
The cuts come as telecom and tech companies attempt to cope with a fall in demand for products from telecom operators. Other telecom equipment makers and related stocks rose.
Troubled UK rival Marconi (MONI) ended flat after rising earlier and Spirent (SPT) added 2.4 percent.
Sweden's Ericsson, the world's biggest supplier of mobile phone networks, rose 1.3 percent in Stockholm.
London's FTSE 100 ended nearly 1 percent higher at 5,278.9, led by chemical giant ICI (ICI) which jumped 6.3 percent, after posting a second-quarter profit at the top end of analyst expectations.
British business services group Capita (CPI), was up 5.9 percent after it said pretax profit rose 58 percent to £29.1 million and new contracts would ensure further growth this year and next.
Publisher Pearson (PSON) ended 6.3 percent higher.
British Telecom (BT-A), the UK's second-largest phone company, was little changed after posting a small loss for its fiscal first quarter.
In Paris, the CAC 40 blue chip index closed up by 1.4 percent at 4,842.12, buoyed by the view the worst is over for Alcatel.
Europe's biggest computer services group, Cap, Gemini, Ernst & Young (PCAP) ended more than 4 percent higher.
France Telecom (PFTE) advanced 2.2 percent after saying revenues rose more than a third, as the company grew its wireless and Internet businesses.
Oil stocks across the continent rose after OPEC decided to cut output by 1 million barrels a day from September 1. Total Fina Elf (PFP) rose more than 3 percent to top the gainers in Paris, as rising oil prices were expected to boost profit.
The world's third-largest oil company BP (BP-) added 1.5 percent in London and Royal Dutch Shell, the No.2, gained 3.1 percent in Amsterdam.
Frankfurt's Xetra Dax rose 0.8 percent to 5,623.70, as German engineering and communications company Siemens (FSIE) climbed nearly 3 percent to lead the advancers.
The country's second-biggest bank HypoVereinsbank (FHVM) advanced 1.3 percent after reporting lower than expected results and said it expected cost savings of 1.2 billion. Its stock had fallen heavily in the week leading up to the report.
In Amsterdam, the AEX index climbed 0.2 percent while the SMI in Zurich was flat. Milan's MIB30 index gained 0.7 percent.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was up 0.6 percent, with the mining sector up 3.3 percent and oil climbing 2.3 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average sagged at Thursday's open after computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard issued a revenue warning and announced job cuts.
The news overshadowed any shaky confidence investors may have been building. But one bright spot came from the day's trio of economic reports which could inject some life into the markets.
The Dow Jones industrial average slid 53.63 to 10,351 in morning trade on Thursday. The Nasdaq composite index gained 0.89 to 1,985.21
Computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard (HWP: Research, Estimates), a Dow component, warned that weaker-than-expected sales and profit margins in the current quarter would lead it to cut about 6,000 jobs worldwide.
The U.S. Labor Department said its employment cost index, which measures workers' pay and is closely watched for signs of inflation, rose 0.9 percent in the second quarter after rising 1.1 percent in the first quarter. Separately, jobless claims and orders for durable goods fell. 
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