There was a split in Europe's TMT sectors yesterday, exacerbated by thin trading volumes, as the Nasdaq bounced upwards. Technology stocks such as Philips rose sharply while telecoms like Sonera and KPN dropped.

Philips, which has tumbled 12 per cent this week, was up 5.4 per cent to €36.86 as money managers picked out bargains in a battered technology sector. Similarly, Epcos rose 2.5 per cent to €88.47 and Siemens rose 1.2 per cent to €133.63. Nokia was up 2 per cent to €46.40.

But Finland's mobile phone operator Sonera fell 7.4 per cent to €20 and the Dutch operator KPN fell 5 per cent to €12.48. Mobile phone maker Ericsson was down 2 per cent to SKr106.50 and telecom equipment maker Alcatel was down 1 per cent to €61.35 as bad news in the week continued to take effect.

Deutsche Telekom bounced back 2.3 per cent in late trade to €33.50 from its 23-month low on Thursday. One dealer said: "Telekom is at a price where you just have to buy."

Deutsche Telekom's internet offshoot T-Online rose 4 per cent to €13.20, also rebounding from a year low.

Germany's bourse regulator recommended a formal insider dealing probe into EM.TV, the former star of the Neuer Markt, which shocked the market this month with a sharp downgrade in its profit forecast. The shares, which have fallen heavily since then, yesterday added more than 7 per cent to €6.22.

Danish software maker NavisionDamgaard fell to an 18-month low after its US competitor Great Plains Software was acquired by Microsoft for $1.1bn. Navision closed 9 per cent lower at DKr168 as investors saw the Microsoft takeover as a threat to its business.

Netgem, a French maker of internet TV software, was downgraded by brokerage CIC/EIFB from "buy" to "overweight" after Netgem said it would not be able to deliver the French strategic partnership deal it had promised investors. However, the shares rose 3.1 per cent to €18.25.