Technology and telecoms mostly traded higher yesterday, although many ended the year perilously close to their lows of the year.

In Germany SAP rose 3.3 per cent to €149.80, Deutsche Telekom was up 2 per cent at €32.10 and Infineon was up 1.8 per cent at €39.58. In France the picture was more mixed, with Alcatel down 2.6 per cent to €60.50, while Equant gained 1.6 per cent to €27.85. France Telecom ended 0.7 per cent lower at €91.95. It is more than 50 per cent below its peak in March and 35 per cent below its January 1st price.

But the Irish telecoms group Eircom rose 8 per cent to €2.70, bouncing back from Thursday's sharp fall. The share price has been volatile following the deal to sell its mobiles unit Eircell to Vodafone for €4.5 billion. Another Irish company, Iona Technology, which provides electronic business infrastructure, was 5.7 per cent higher at €74.

Chemicals stood out as volumes fell to the low levels wholly in keeping with the last trading day of the year. A Goldman Sachs upgrade for a number of US chemical heavyweights sparked investor demand for this classic cyclical sector where fortunes have fluctuated widely since the autumn.

Bayer was dull but the rest of the German sector pushed ahead. BASF added 0.7 per cent at €48.17 and Degussa Huels 1.9 per cent at €36.70. Beiersdorf rose 3.8 per cent to €110.50.

In France, Aventis added 2.7 per cent at €93.50, while Sanofi- Synthelabo gained 4 per cent at €71, its best of the session and a fresh high for the year.

The Dutch heavyweights DSM and Akzo Nobel put on 2.2 per cent and 0.8 per cent at €37.31 and €57.20 respectively.

Among financial stocks banks in Spain gained ground in a dull broad market with the news that BSCH was to buy the outstanding minority in Banespa, the big Brazilian bank lifting sentiment. BSCH gained 2.1 per cent to €11.40.

Motor stock were mixed. Renault and Volkswagen lost ground but BMW gained 2.7 per cent at €34.90 and DaimlerChrysler rallied from the four-year low touched on Thursday. Deeply troubled by a succession of scare stories concerning the group's US operations, the stock hit an intra-day low of €42.70 on Thursday, down from January's €79.97 peak. The shares gained 3.4 per cent to €44.74.