Investors in Frankfurt concentrated on special situations and at the finish of another low-volume session the Xetra Dax was 24.07 higher at 4,865.27.
Metals group Preussag, which has recently diversified heavily into leisure activities, pushed ahead strongly on news of healthy first quarter sales, jumping €27.00 to €497.
Motors were mixed. BMW touched a session low of €587 as analysts came away from the group's trading update meeting in a grim mood. The shares, held back lately by concerns over the the UK Rover offshoot, ended off €27.2 at €606 amid widespread talk of broker downgrades.
Volkswagen shed 25 cents to €61.20. An upbeat trading statement from DaimlerChrysler at the merged group's first annual conference sent the shares up 77 cents to €80.55.
Mannesmann shared in a broad rally for the telecoms sector, adding €2.60 at €117 on a results statement. Deutsche Telekom improved 83 cents to €37.75. Viag, a volatile market on acquisition uncertainty, came off €10.5 at €503.
Paris ended higher with some upside push from the options expiry. The CAC-40 added 55.9 at 4,197.88.
Drugs group Sanofi was the session's top performer, jumping €8.6 to €156 on news of an increase in dividend. Investors also warmed to the group's upcoming merger with pharmaceuticals rival Synthelabo and the subsequent share split.
Oils finished in negative territory in spite of a good day for international oil prices. Brent Blend, the North Sea marker price, went above $15 (€13.07) to the barrel at one stage. Elf Aquitaine lost more than 3 per cent, slipping €4.6 to €125.8.
Amsterdam traded narrowly, ending 2.53 higher at 536.93 on the AEX index. Aegon improved 65 cents to €84.55 after the announcement that its Labouchere bank offshoot had abandoned plans to merge with broker AOT. AOT tumbled 80 cents, or 6.5 per cent, to €11.50 and ING shed 15 cents to €51.05 on in line results but cautious outlook.
Milan called a halt to the day's trade on a bullish note, although volumes were thin. The Mibtel index rose 287 or 1.2 per cent to 25,002.
Telecoms remained at the centre of attention after Olivetti's admission of a blunder in the timing of the sale of 24.4 million Telecom Italia shares. Olivetti finished 0.4 per cent higher at €2.90 and Telecom eased 0.3 per cent to €9.84.
Banks were mixed. San Paulo IMI soared 7 per cent to €15.03 after the bank said it expected a significant increase in 1999 profitability, in spite of costs linked to its planned take-over of Banca di Roma.
