European stocks spiked upwards in the afternoon following the US growth data, especially the Paris market, where the CAC 40 index closed at its highest since February 19th.

The volatile techs and telecoms were particular beneficiaries, especially those with high exposure to the US. Nokia rose 6.2 per cent to #35.85, its best level since February 6th, SAP was back at a mid-February level of #178.40, a rise of 3.7 per cent, while Sonera put on 11.7 per cent to #11.34.

Finland's telecoms operator Sonera was also helped by speculation about Turkcell, in which Sonera has a 37 per cent stake. Greek press reports said officials from Greek telecom OTE were in Turkey and would have talks with Turkcell representatives.

A sale by Sonera of its Turkcell stake would help with its crucial need to reduce its #5.7 billion debt burden. Telecoms equipment maker Alcatel rose 1.5 per cent to #34.15 following reports that it had offered about $5 billion for Lucent's optic fibre unit after talks on a complete merger of the two fell through.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein cut Alcatel from a "buy" to a "hold" and its share price target from #50 to #37 following its first-quarter results on Thursday. Siemens continued to fall, losing 1 per cent to #119.95, after downgrades from four major investment banks.

Germany's leading airline Lufthansa fell 2.1 per cent to #20.80 after it reported a sharp drop in first-quarter markets operating profit to #5 million from #99 million a year earlier. Analyst expectations had been for a figure of about #89 million.

Other airlines were a little weaker. Air France was down 0.4 per cent at #20.42 and Alitalia was down 1 per cent at #1.72.

German chemicals and pharmaceuticals group Bayer was also reporting results. The shares fell 3.2 per cent to #47.81 after slightly worse than expected first-quarter figures. Operating profit before exceptionals was down 6.9 per cent to #936 million.