Synergy benefits continued to underpin solid gains at Allianz, the German insurer in the throes of absorbing Dresdner Bank via a #23 billion takeover. The stock, upgraded last week by Deutsche Bank and added to the broker's European focus list, came in for further positive comment. This time the soothing words came from Credit Suisse First Boston which lifted its target price to #405 from #385. Allianz gained 2 per cent to #344.50.
Finnish insurer Sampo lost 2 per cent at #9.95 as the group's chances of succeeding with a $2.3 billion takeover bid for Norway's Storebrand were seen to dwindle in the face of regulatory problems.
Crude oil prices in Europe crept back up close to $30 a barrel as the commodity markets responded to the latest round of sabre-rattling by Iraq on oil exports. Most sector analysts remained sceptical of the latest "bull run" for the oil price, when the big stocks in the sector Total Fina Elf and Royal Dutch were out of action for the Whitsun holiday. In Milan, Eni added 0.3 per cent at #7.73 while Madrid's Repsol improved 0.7 per cent to #21.29.
Among telecoms companies, the best performer was Finland's leading operator Sonera which rose 5.4 per cent to #9.85, followed by Telefonica which recouped 2.9 per cent to #17.58 after losses last week. Sonera has been volatile in recent days, being buoyed up by speculation about Nordic telecom mergers but hit last Friday by Dutch telecom company KPN, which fell almost 20 per cent on finance concerns. Sonera, like KPN, has a heavy debt burden following its investment in a third generation mobile licence in Germany.
