Bourses mostly firmed as investors took heart from merger news and hopes of international action to curb the strength of the yen. The Eurobloc 100 index rose 7.69 or 0.7 per cent to 1,099.54. The Eurotop 100 climbed 20.90 or 0.7 per cent to 2,991, while the Eurotop 300 ended 6.02 or 0.5 per cent higher at 1,312.83.
Paris edged ahead as Dexia, the bank, set the pace. The CAC-40 index ended 36.17 or 0.8 per cent higher at 4,680.49. Dexia climbed €6.50 or 4.9 per cent to €140 on news of a plan to merge its French and Belgian holding companies. France Telecom led a rally in the telecommunications sector. It climbed €3 or 3.9 per cent to 79.50. Sanofi-Synthelabo, the drugs group, fell €1.70 or 4.1 per cent to €40.20 on profit taking. The stock rose sharply last week ahead of its entry yesterday into the Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading shares.
Frankfurt shrugged off the latest defeat for the Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder's Social Democrats in the weekend's regional election and the Xetra Dax index finished 56.33 higher at 5,360.27.
Mannesmann shot up €4.75 to €144 as the group negotiated a key price concession with its rival, Deutsche Telecom, which put on 59 cents to €40.59. SAP was a strong performer, putting on €20.90 to €425.40, building on the Nasdaq's rally on Friday to extend its recovery from recent losses.
DaimlerChrysler put on 58 cents to €68.78 after reports that the chief financial officer, Mr Manfred Gentz, would retain his post in the planned reshuffle of the company's management board next month.
Milan remained in positive territory but came sharply off its highs as the heavily traded insurer INA pulled back after an early jump to the level implied by Generali's cash and share takeover bid. INA closed 0.9 per cent higher at €3.03 after setting a new record high of €3.09 in morning trade, above the bid's latest value of €3.06. Generali fell 1.55 per cent to €31.70.
Sanpaolo-IMI, whose plans for a merger with INA were upstaged by Generali, put on 0.1 per cent to €2.61 as the market awaited today's executive board meeting which could provide the prelude for a counterbid. Helsinki ended sharply higher after MeritaNordbanken bid €3.1 billion for Christiania Bank of Norway. The Hex general index climbed 167.40 or 2.2 per cent to 7,844.73. Merita accounted for 14 per cent of turnover, making it the second most actively traded share after Nokia, the telecommunications group. Merita shares advanced 31 cents or 6 per cent to €5.46. Nokia rose €2.34 or 2.8 per cent to €84.85 after its American Depositary Receipts performed well in New York.
Amsterdam outperformed most other European bourses, boosted by good corporate news. The AEX index closed 4.46 or 0.8 per cent higher at 576.58.
