Weak telecoms in Paris offset the impact of the Dow Jones Industrial Average's jaunt above 10,000. The CAC-40 settled 1.23 higher to 4,186.35 in heavy volume of 21.7 million shares following a barrage of company news.
The chemical sector was buoyant, helped by Rhodia's counter-bid for Albright & Wilson, the British chemical company being bid for by Albemarle of the US. Rhodia shot up 99 cents or 8.3 per cent to #12.99.
RhonePoulenc delivered the sharpest gain in the CAC-40, adding #2.70 to #43.70 after Hoechst of Germany said its planned merger with the French chemical group could take place sooner than expected. Shares were further boosted by a statement from rival Novartis dispelling rumours it would launch a counter-bid for Hoechst.
Banks woke up from their Monday torpor, revived by unconfirmed reports that Deutsche Bank would support BNP's bid for Societe Generale and Paribas with a view to taking a stake in the combined entity.
BNP ended #2 higher on #80, while SocGen added #7 to #171. Paribas rose 80 cents to #100.90. The market closed before a key meeting of the CMF, the French markets regulator, marking the first step in the lengthy approval process of the bid.
There was weakness in telecom-related stocks ahead of France Telecom's results today. Shares in the market heavyweight ended #1.40 softer on #77.60 while Alcatel shed #4.60 to #115.
Frankfurt ended below the best of the day with the Xetra DAX index up 47.70 at 5,090.93 after touching 5,124.00 in early trading.
Deutsche Bank rose to #53 before closing up 94 cents at #52.51 ahead of tomorrow's results statement. It was boosted by a press report that the bank was set to step into France's banking take-over tussle, possibly taking a stake in any enlarged BNP-Paribas-SocGen entity.
Deutsche Telecom improved 75 cents to #39.60 after the telecoms leader issued an upbeat trading statement, claiming to have halted the slide in its market share with the exception of international calls.
Amsterdam rose 5.59 to 540.64 on the AEX index helped by a 3.8 per cent improvement for electronics giant Philips, which powered ahead #2.55 to #70.15.
Zurich was easier as results and positive corporate forecasts by Novartis, CS Group and Sulzer failed to spur the market. The SMI index finished 22.0 weaker at 7,218.9.
Milan kept the banking sector in focus on a day when the market picked up around mid-session before turning back later. The real-time Mibtel index finished 129 lower at 24,945.
Madrid advanced 0.7 per cent, helped by bank stocks. The general index was 6.48 ahead to 904.79.
