Technology and telecoms stocks rallied for the second consecutive day, with the major exception of Ericsson, whose third-quarter results were given a decidedly chilly reception in marked contrast to those from Nokia the day before.
Profits at Ericsson, the world's number three mobile phone maker, were ahead of expectations but it said sales and margins for the year as a whole would be lower than estimated. It forecast an increased fourth-quarter loss on handsets, instead of a reduced loss that analysts had been hoping for.
Ericsson shares fell 16 per cent to 127 Swedish krona, more than erasing Thursday's gain of 9.4 per cent.
Rival Nokia gained from Ericsson's woes, rising 3 per cent to €45.
Mr Ben Funnell, equity strategist at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, said he recommended staying overweight in tech stocks for the fourth quarter, but next year he expected them to be down as mobile operators cut handset subsidies.
Shares in telecom operators were higher, with France Telecom up 4.5 per cent to €107.60, Deutsche Telekom up 3.1 per cent to €39.45 and Equant up 8.1 per cent to €38.70.
Software company SAP continued to fall following its disappointing results on Thursday, losing 4.4 per cent to €214.20. But French consumer electronics group Thomson Multimedia rose 4.9 per cent to €53.50 as brokerage CIC upgraded it from "overweight" to "buy", and Schneider Electric rose 6.2 per cent to €76 amid speculation that ABB, the Swiss-Swedish engineering group, may make a bid.
Roche certificates made a more modest response, easing from a high of 16,185 Swiss francs to close just SFr10 ahead at SFr16,045. Late on Thursday, the group denied speculation it was preparing a takeover, or closer co-operation, with Germany's Bayer.
Motors were mixed before next week's stream of news from the sector. DaimlerChrysler, which puts out third-quarter results on Thursday, gained 48 cents at €54.83, but there was little cheer elsewhere in Germany. VW lost €1.52 at €53.68 and BMW €1.05 at €36.70. French stocks were less hesitant with Renault adding €1.07 at €49.99 and Peugeot improving €1.20 at €204.40 before the latter's third-quarter sales statement on Monday.
