Shares in Frankfurt swung upwards yesterday with a powerful rally at DaimlerChrysler helping the market make good the previous session's losses. DaimlerChrysler bounced smartly off Tuesday's lows in good volume. The stock, which has come down from €80 this year on worries about US earnings and a string of broker downgrades, jumped €1.74 or 3.4 per cent to €53.19 on an upbeat trading statement.
Financials also continued to improve, helped by another solid day for the euro and easing interest rate concerns. Deutsche Bank rose €1.31 to €95.91 and HypoVereinsbank 78 cents to €62.95. Allianz added €6.75 at €371.30.
SAP added €8.30 at €279.70 as investors continued to warm to news of good order flow and SAP's links with US computer giant Compaq.
Retailers met with steady buying, with Metro adding 21 cents at €47.03 and Karstadt Quelle jumping €2.50 to €36.01 to regain the heavy losses of the past two sessions.
The Xetra DAX index was up 21.73 at 6,786.77 at 5.30 p.m. German time.
Paris held up well considering the lack of support from US markets and continuing profit warnings. The CAC-40 index rose 0.4 per cent to 6,319.79, with gains across a broad spread of sectors.
But some companies started off with good gains only to see them eroded later in the day. Hotel group Accor closed just 0.4 cents higher at €43.15 before its first-half results, which were released after the market closed.
Total Fina Elf rose 0.9 per cent to €165.40 after it announced a cut in the price of petrol at French pumps to take account of lower crude oil prices.
The best risers on the CAC were defence group EADS, up 6 per cent to €18.68, luxury goods maker LVMH, up 2.4 per cent to €85.10, and computer services company Cap Gemini, up 2.9 per cent to €214.
Amsterdam gained ground after a session of mixed trading for blue chips. The AEX index ended up 2.88 at 656.08.
Milan closed a touch higher, lifted by a rally at tyre-maker Pirelli on news that it was selling its optical fibre components unit to Corning of the US for a lucrative $3.6 billion. The Mibtel index rose 0.4 per cent to 31,569, while Pirelli rose about 9 per cent to €3.25.
