Europe stocks rebound on results; M&A boosts brewers

European share indexes rose yesterday, as generally upbeat results from US heavyweights and Dutch electronic chip equipment-maker ASML whetted investor appetite for financials and technology stocks.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index ended up 0.6 per cent at 1,585.23, rebounding from the previous session when a profit warning from Ericsson battered the technology sector. Techs yesterday came back strongly, inspired by ASML, which rose 8.2 per cent after third-quarter bookings rebounded, and by solid earnings overnight from US technology bellwethers Intel and Yahoo.

Meanwhile forecast-beating profits from US investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co cheered European investors who have grappled with negative news from the financial sector in the past three months as the credit crunch takes its toll. RBS gained 3.4 per cent, Barclays ended up 0.7 per cent, and BNP Paribas is 0.5 per cent higher.

But the top gainer was brewer Scottish and Newcastle which jumped 19 per cent after Carlsberg and Heineken said they were discussing a possible joint cash bid for the British brewer. Carlsberg rose 1.7 per cent and Heineken gained 1.1 per cent.