Shares in Paris reversed direction, trading higher after two losing sessions. The advance was led by strength in pay-television group Canal Plus and pharmaceutical stocks. The CAC 40 index nudged up 39.79 to close at 5,381.41, fewer than 20 points shy of its all-time high.
Canal Plus grabbed the limelight, rising almost 6 per cent on hopes of a quick deal with Lagardere on digital television unit Canal Satellite. The shares ended up €4.70 at €86.80.
Rhone-Poulenc was another big percentage gainer. It advanced €2.75 to €64.25 as index trackers augmented their stake ahead of its merger with Hoechst, which will boost the company's weighting in the CAC.
The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index added 0.9 per cent at 1,221.29. The FTSE Eurotop 100 gained 1.3 per cent at 3,368.68 while the broader FTSE Eurotop 300 finished 1 per cent higher at 1,450.74.
STMicroelectronics, which leapt more than 9 per cent on Tuesday in advance of its entry into the Morgan Stanley Capital International French index, fell back €8 to €127. Frankfurt added 37.80 at 5,933.84 on the Xetra Dax index after touching a high for the session of 5,960.59.
BMW stayed in demand, adding a further €1.06 at €27.45 on hopes for a boost to dollar earnings from the weak euro. Lufthansa made progress for similar reasons, helped by a target price rise at CS First Boston. The airline rose 82 cents to €22.82.
Deutsche Telekom was the subject of mixed broker comment. The stock lost 65 cents at 56.65. Speculation that it was set to link up with Endesa, subsequently denied by the Spanish utility, helped lift RWE, sending the stock up 87 cents at €38.87. Thyssen Krupp, a strong market lately on positive broker comment on the steel sector, stayed firm. The shares rose 1.29 or 5 per cent to 27.11.
Helsinki was overshadowed by a 29 per cent slump in Raisio, the food group, in huge turnover on rumours of a downgrade by a London-based investment bank. Late in the day, Warburg Dillon Read said it had slashed its share price target to €3.30, a reduction of about a half, and sharply reduced its profit forecasts for 2000 and 2001. The shares, which peaked at €18.09 in May last year, tumbled €1.77 to a three-year low of €4.28.
