European blue chips remained up but off session highs after a flat open on Wall Street yesterday, with a mixed take on Nokia's second quarter report and further falls for selected pharmaceuticals stocks keeping the market from pushing ahead.
"In the US, where we've had a mass of companies reporting, about 80 per cent have come in at, or above, forecasts and you have to expect that to start rebuilding confidence going forward," said Mark Tinker, European strategist at Commerzbank in London.
By 1345 GMT, the FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips was 0.2 per cent higher while the narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index was up about 0.3 per cent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.34 per cent and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index was off 0.56 per cent.
Deutsche Telekom led the advancers, up about seven per cent, on hopes new chief executive Helmut Sihler will take bold steps to reduce the telecom flagship's huge debt pile.
Nokia posted higher second quarter profits, as expected, but shares in the world's largest mobile phone maker fell back after analysts said its forecasts left room for disappointment. The shares were down about six per cent.
Shares in Sweden's Ericsson were down 0.3 per cent ahead of its second quarter earnings tomorrow. They will be watched for pointers on the state of telecoms equipment demand.
On Wall Street, the mood was mixed ahead of a welter of earnings reports expected later. US unemployment lines shortened last week as the number of initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level in about 17 months, according to government figures.
Bellwether International Business Machines Corp. said after the bell on Wednesday it eked out a second quarter profit of just a few pennies a share after a $1.4 billion charge to exit loss-making businesses and to cover job cuts.
Even before the exceptional, IBM's earnings were hit as companies clamped down on technology spending.
Eli Lilly and Co. yesterday posted a sharp drop in second quarter profit on plunging sales of its antidepressant Prozac and signalled its manufacturing woes could extend into 2003.
Switzerland's Novartis was among the leading fallers amid market fears that next Monday's results from the drugmaker could reveal a negative impact from dollar weakness and weak investment returns on its cash pile.