Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson and Dutch chemical group Akzo Nobel underpinned European shares yesterday, but bourses ended down for the week ahead of a heavy batch of corporate scorecards next week.
Ericsson jumped 15.4 per cent to 10.10 Swedish crowns, its best close in a year, after much better-than-expected second-quarter results due to cost cuts and a promise to return to profit this year.
Along with solid earnings from global software leader Microsoft overnight, Ericsson's news was balm to nerves in the technology sector, rattled on Thursday by gloomy guidance from Finland's Nokia.
Nokia fell a further two per cent to €13.05 yesterday, having shed 15.5 per cent on Thursday.
Ericsson boosted some of its peers, with France's Alcatel up 4.5 per cent at €8.04, while Siemens gained one per cent to €47.28.
"So far, the earnings season has not been too bad, though Nokia's outlook was disappointing," said Peter Luedke, a dealer at Merck Finck private bank in Munich.
"Here in Germany we expect the DAX stocks to report next week and the week afterwards, but I don't think it will be really disappointing," he added.
At 1554 GMT, the FTSE Eurotop 300 index was up 0.14 per cent at 859 points, with advancing issues eclipsing decliners by less than two-to-one as a mixed Wall Street dampened sentiment.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.28 per cent to 2,456 points.
After recovering from a six-year low in March, stocks have become locked in a range as investors worry they have discounted too much of an anticipated second-half economic recovery.
More sideways trading is predicted as investors digest a slew of upcoming earnings reports, with many companies still unwilling or unable to give clearer guidance.
"The market needs consolidation because it has gone up quite sharply since March," Luedke said.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index is down 0.6 per cent for the week and flat for the year.
As bourses shut, in New York the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.4 per cent at 9,087 points, while the Nasdaq Composite was flat at 1,696 points.
The Dutch AEX index jumped 2.3 per cent as several of its leading constituents topped the blue-chip advancers' chart in Europe.
Insurance group Aegon rose five per cent to €10.80, while domestic peer ING Groep gained 3.3 per cent to €16.80, both helping the battered insurance sector to end the week back in higher territory for 2003.
Bear Stearns started coverage of Aegon with a "peer perform" rating and a price target of €11.20.
Dutch chemical and pharmaceuticals firm Akzo Nobel soared 13.3 per cent to €26.50 as investors welcomed news of a smaller-than-expected drop in second-quarter profits, though details of a recovery plan were still awaited.
Akzo's earnings were hit by weak demand and unfavourable currencies as the weaker dollar makes euro-zone exports to the United States less competitive - a theme that will feature large in next week's heavy earnings calendar dominated by top exporters in the drug and auto sectors.
Also in the chemical sector, Britain's ICI rose 5.7 per cent to 138 pence, while Dutch DSM rose three per cent to €39.63.
Shares in British engineering firm Invensys jumped by more than 15 per cent to 28 pence as speculation mounted over fresh progress in the company's asset disposal programme.
No comment was available from Invensys. Among the day's other standouts, French engineering group Alstom fell 2.5 per cent to €2.71 after posting an 18 per cent drop in first-quarter sales and saying new orders for its ships, trains and gas turbines also plunged.
Economic data was relatively light yesterday, with a key index of US consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan showing am uptick in July to a slightly higher-than-expected 90.3 from 89.7 in June.