Europe holds on to gains

LONDON, England (CNN) -- European markets ended mostly higher on Thursday as a positive reaction to strong earnings from DaimlerChrylser was tempered by mixed reviews for Nokia's results and a weak opening on Wall Street.

London's FTSE 100 rose 2.1 percent to 4,279.2 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris gained 2.1 percent to 3,513.71, while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax was up 0.3 percent to 4,103.69 in late trading (the German market was set to close at 1800 GMT).

The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, added 1.5 percent, with the mining and media sub-indices among the main gainers, while information technology and computers services stocks were lower.

The AEX index in Amsterdam rose 1.4 percent and Milan's MIB30 gained 1.6 percent, while the SMI in Zurich slipped 0.5 percent.

DaimlerChrysler (FDCX), the world's fifth-largest automaker, was up 2.7 percent to 47.21 euros after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results, despite a drop in revenue, and raising it guidance for the third quarter. (Full story)

Finland's Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, fell 4.6 percent to 13.70 euros after it posted a rise in second-quarter profit but trimmed its estimates for global handset sales. (Full story) Swedish rival Ericsson, which reports its results on Friday, was down 3.3 percent to 14.50 crowns in the wake of Nokia's report.

German software giant SAP (FSAP) was down 3.8 percent to 77.07 euros after confirming last week's warning that sales growth would fall to between 10 and 15 percent this year and posted its first quarter net loss.

Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) was up 5.4 percent to 12.65 euros in late Frankfurt trading, extending the previous session's 8.8 percent gain after its chief executive Ron Sommer resigned. Europe's biggest telephone company is now expected to sell assets -- including VoiceStream, the sixth-biggest U.S. mobile phone operator -- to reduce it debt.

MmO2 (OOM) rose 5.4 percent to 48.89 pence after Europe's fifth-largest wireless telecoms group reported increased average revenue and subscriber numbers for the quarter ended June. (Full story)

France's BNP Paribas (PBNP), the eurozone's largest bank by market value, fell 1 percent to 46.76 euros after it said net income fell 13 percent to 1 billion euros in the second-quarter of 2002 due to "exceptional turbulences" in the market. (Full story)

AB Electrolux gained about 8 percent to 177 crowns after the world's biggest maker of home appliances posted higher-than expected second-quarter profits as it cut costs and increased sales in the United States. (Full story)

Pinault Printemps Redoute (PPR), Europe's largest non-food retailer, jumped 9.1 percent to 91 euros after it posted a 1.5 percent fall in first-half turnover, roughly in line with expectations. (Full story)

Vivendi Universal (PEX), Europe's biggest media company, rose 8.8 percent to 18.20 euros. The debt-laden company appointed French TV executive Jacques Espinasse to replace its finance chief as the group grapples with a crash crisis.

In the U.S. on Thursday, markets were mixed in early trading with weakness in technology stocks souring investor sentiment despite some generally positive results.

At midday, the Nasdaq composite index was down 16.71 points to 1,380.54, while the Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.80 points to 8,544.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was 6.68 points lower at 899.36.