Yesterday was Nokia day for the technology sector. Nokia shares ended 12.8 per cent up at #22.78 after the company posted firm results for the second quarter.

It said it expected earnings per share for the third quarter to be slightly lower than the second, but gave no forecast for the fourth.

Jorma Ollila, the chief executive, said: "The lack of visibility does not allow us to give specific growth guidance for the fourth quarter. We expect the conditions to start improving towards the end of the year and into 2002 when the industry will show healthy growth."

The shares of arch-rival Ericsson fell at first but later turned positive and ended the day 4.5 per cent higher at 51 Swedish krona (#5.1). Ericsson's results are due out today.

Nokia's news sustained its Finnish suppliers such as Perlos, Eimo and JOT Automation. Perlos and JOT both rose 4 per cent while Eimo was up 12 per cent.

The other big result yesterday was software group SAP, which also pleased the markets, beating analysts' forecasts for the third quarter running. Net profits rose 78 per cent in the second quarter compared with the same quarter last year. The shares gained 10 per cent to #157.40.

JP Morgan, which has a "buy" recommendation on the stock, said: "We believe this is a very good set of numbers, and more importantly, guidance for the year is far more bullish than expected."

Thales lost most of the previous day's gains, falling 6.9 per cent to #42.25 after failing to secure a $2.4 billion contract for battlefield radios for the British army.

Renault ran into heavy selling for the second day running as the mood turned increasingly sour ahead of next week's results statement. Sentiment was further unsettled by downbeat comments on US demand from Japan's Nissan Motor, in which Renault has a near 37 per cent stake.