Europe's technology stocks, already sharply higher in the morning following Intel's results, soared after the surprise Fed rate cut.
Nokia, which had been about 7 per cent higher before lunchtime, surged more than 17 per cent to €33.80. Cable company UPC rose more than 18 per cent to €6.80.
Among other strong performers, Alcatel was up 11 per cent to €37.25, Ericsson rose 9.6 per cent to 63 Swedish krona and ASM Lithography rose 14 per cent to €29.54.
The Paris CAC-40, helped by Alcatel and other techs and telecom stocks, rose above 5,500 for the first time since mid-February.
Among the telecom operators, Deutsche Telekom stood out, rising 9.3 per cent to €30.15, its first time above €30 since February 14th. France Telecom rose 5.4 per cent to €79.50 and Telefonica was up 4.5 per cent to €19.85.
The best telecom performer was the Dutch operator KPN Telecom. Its shares rose 12 per cent to €14.12 after Mr Paul Smits, its chairman, said KPN would consider possible mergers, including closer ties with its partner Telecom Italia Mobile. In January, the two companies and NTT DoCoMo formed a joint venture in high-speed Internet access for mobile phones.
KPN has the lowest credit rating of all the former European telecom monopolies. Like many of its peers, it is trying to sell assets to cut its €22 billion debt largely incurred in the scramble for third-generation mobile licences.
The Dutch company Libertel-Vodafone rose 5.5 per cent to €10.60 after announcing it was starting a service offering always-on Internet access for mobile phones. The company is 70 per cent owned by Vodafone of the UK.
Software companies did well in the wake of the Intel results. Dassault Systemes was halted limit up, before ending 14.1 per cent higher at €54.90. Chipmakers too gained, with STMicroelectronics up 8.6 per cent to €44 and Infineon up 6.8 per cent to €49.45.
German software services company Net AG jumped 21.4 per cent to €5 after it said it would co-operate with telecoms service company Tenovis in the field of mobile phone services.
Another German software company, Abit, jumped more than 35 per cent to €8.08 after saying it had received a big order from HypoVereinsbank.
