Mobile phone maker Nokia shot up more than 13 per cent on a relief rally as the company cut its forecast for sales growth but kept its target for earnings per share at 19 cents.

Jorma Ollila, the chairman, said sales would grow 20 per cent rather than the previous estimate of 25-30 per cent. The shares closed at the day's high of P27.79. Rival Ericsson was up 0.7 at SKr62.50 and Alcatel up 1.2 per cent at P40.40.

Nokia spread good sentiment to the telecom sector, which rebounded more than 2.5 per cent, with France Telecom up 4.6 per cent, Deutsche Telekom up 4.8 per cent and Sweden's Telia up 6.7 per cent.

Deutsche Telekom was at P26.30 in late trading, possibly helped by comments from Ron Sommer, the chief executive, that earnings would recover this year. STMicro advances STMicro shares later eased to end 2.8 per cent higher at P37.20. UBS Warburg cut its price target from P63 to P48 but retained its "buy" recommendation on the stock. It also cut electronics and engineering group Siemens from P144 to P112.

French consumer electronics company Thomson Multimedia fell 5.2 per cent to P40.75 after NEC of Japan sold 3 million shares or 1.1 per cent of Thomson's capital. Brokers said the price was P39.50 a share. NEC said it had no plans to sell its remaining 13.9 million shares.

Finnish software group F-Secure, which makes anti-virus programs, plunged more than 30 per cent after it warned of slower-than-forecast sales and weaker operating profit in the first quarter. The shares closed down 60 cents at P1.11.

French utility Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux reported a higher-than-expected 37 per cent rise in operating profit for 2000, although net profit was lower than expected at 32 per cent. It set a target of double-digit growth for this year and reiterated that it would focus on its three core businesses of energy, water and waste management. Suez's shares rose 5.2 per cent to P161.40.

Car maker BMW veered 0.8 per cent lower to P35 as record profits for 2000 still came in slightly below analysts' expectations.