Gains from technology firms such as Nokia combined with strength in the mining sector to lift European shares on Friday, the last full trading session before Christmas.
Tech stocks rose after BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said third-quarter earnings more than doubled and released a better-than-expected forecast.
Shares of mobile phone giant Nokia gained 3.6 percent on hopes for sales of its high-end models. Other technology firms on the rise included telecom-equipment and phone maker Ericsson, up 3.9 percent, and software firm Dassault Systemes, which ended 3.6 percent higher.
By region, the German DAX 30 index climbed 1.7 percent to reclaim the 8,000 mark, ending at 8,002.67. The French CAC-40 index advanced 1.7 percent to 5,602.77, and the UK's FTSE 100 index rose 1.4 percent to 6,434.10.
Mining stocks on the move included Antofagasta, up 4.5 percent, and Vedanta Resources, up 4.1 percent, as gold and copper prices strengthened.
Gold for February delivery gained US$10.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the March copper contract rose US$0.1095, or 3.7 percent.
Mirroring Thursday's gains in the US, investors were shrugging off more bad news from the financial sector.
"The market is holding together. This suggests that people think there is still an opportunity for central-bank policy and solid growth momentum from outside the US to pull us through the credit crunch," said John Haynes, senior equity strategist at Rensburg Sheppards Investment Management.
Shares of French bank Credit Agricole rose 0.9 percent, less than the broader market, after writing down 1.6 billion euros (US$2.3 billion) because of CDO valuation and the situation at bond insurer ACA Financial Guaranty.
Shares of France's Societe Generale also lagged the market, trading up 0.3 percent after the bank said it was exercising a US$1.7 billion option to increase its stake in Russia's Rosbank to 50 percent plus one share and after it received a downgrade to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse, which argued SocGen may also need to mark down its CDOs.
Danone shares climbed 4.7 percent, the top performing French large-cap, after the company agreed to hold "peace talks" and suspend lawsuits with China's Wahaha (娃哈哈).
Danone has been at odds with its venture partner after charging that Zong Qinghou (
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS