Bourses pushed deeper into record territory yesterday as consolidation fever swept through the telecoms industry with renewed vigour.
The successful merger of Vodafone AirTouch and Mannesmann sparked heavy turnover and dramatic share price gains as investors attempted to guess the next big deal for the sector.
Dutch leader KPN, seen as the front-runner to acquire British mobile phone operator Orange from Vodafone under regulatory compliance, shot up 18.3 per cent or €18.70 to €121. France Telecom and Bouygues gained €8.60 to €162 and €62 to €794 respectively.
Telefonica of Spain rose 35 cents to €29.20, while Telecom Italia put on 41 cents to €19.30 and Olivetti 11 cents to €3.86. Telecom Portugal jumped 86 cents to €13.35.
Paris rose to a fresh all-time high on the CAC-40 index, which gained 126.0 to 6,275.72 after another high-volume session.
The steeper gains were again concentrated among technology-related stocks. Alcatel rose €11.10 to €258.50 after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter set a price target of €350.
STMicroelectronics jumped €16 to €208 and Alsthom €1.75 to €28.80. Equant rose €8.40 to €127.90 on Goldman Sachs' plans to revise its earnings estimates and price target.
Frankfurt touched a new high, with the Xetra DAX index up 90.35 at 7,444.61. SAP and Siemens advanced more than 5 per cent, with SAP up €40.50 to €840.50 and Siemens up €9.23 to €161.50.
Amsterdam also pushed ahead in spite of profit-taking at Aegon and a number of heavy falls elsewhere among heavyweights.
Unilever shed €2.15, or 4.8 per cent, to €43.15 and Royal Dutch lost a further 58 cents to €54.95. Aegon came off 85 cents to €79.15 and KLM 84 cents to €23.53.
Philips added €2.25 at €171.75 but, for the most part, the gains reflected the dramatic upsurge at KPN. The AEX index ended 11.36 better at 660.95.
Milan pushed up to a third consecutive record closing high, reflecting a sharp gain in takeover target Montedison and solid rises in the telecoms sector. The Mibtel index finished 179 higher at 30,301.
Madrid's advance was supported by gains in Telefonica and the Ibex 35 index ended 62.2 higher at 11,606.3.
