EADS, Credit Agricole, Salzgitter advance; Nokia, ASM International fall
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares gained ground on Friday as oil producers put in a strong performance, although data showing that the euro zone tumbled into recession and a warning from Nokia served to underline the still-gloomy economic backdrop.
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 rose 0.8% to 205.76, paring losses over the past 12 months to roughly 45%.
On a national level, the French CAC-40 index climbed 0.7% to 3,291.47, the German DAX 30 index rose 1.3% to 4,710.24 and the U.K. FTSE 100 index added 1.5% to 4,232.97.
Energy companies fronted the advance, with shares in BP up 3.6% and Total shares advancing 3.2%.
U.S. stocks, meanwhile, fell on Friday, retreating from the prior day's explosive gains after dismal retail sales for October. See Market Snapshot.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied sharply Thursday after falling below 8,000 for the first time since October, with the move giving investors hope that they may be near the bottom of the market.
"It's a good sign, but it's only one little sign, and I think that you would want to look over a longer period of time before you could improve the probability that we have definitely hit the bottom of this bear market," said Edmund Shing, strategist at BNP Paribas in Paris.
"Over the next couple of months, we are likely to be bouncing around in a wide trading range until we see a little bit of stability on the economic outlook," he added.
Economic data out Friday revealed that the 15-nation euro zone moved into its first recession since the debut of the single currency nearly a decade ago. See full story.
EADS, Credit Agricole up
In the technology sector, Nokia shares fell 3.7% after the world's top maker of mobile phones warned that cell-phone sales industry-wide will fall next year as consumers around the world pull back in the face of a slumping economy and limited credit availability. See full story.
ASM International ) was another tech-sector faller, down 21% after it said that Applied Materials Inc. and Francisco Partners will not make a combined offer for its front-end operations.
Other individual standouts in Europe included European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. , up 3.7%.
The European aerospace and defense giant returned to a profit in the third quarter and raised its 2008 profit forecast. See full story.
Credit Agricole shares advanced 4.7%.
The lender's third-quarter net profit fell to 365 million euros, from 954 million euros at the same point a year ago, but came in well ahead of analyst expectations.
"Credit Agricole reported a third-quarter net income substantially higher than our estimate of 42 million euros," noted analysts at Deutsche Bank.
They noted that the difference stemmed from capital gains and a strong level of activity at the bank's investment banking arm, Calyon.
Shares in Germany's second largest steelmaker by output, Salzgitter , rose 4% after it posted a forecast-beating 29% increase in third-quarter profit and lifted its outlook.
Dexia shares fell 12%.
The French-Belgium bank agreed to sell its struggling FSA bond-insurance unit for $722 million as its also reported Friday a loss of 1.54 billion euros ($1.96 billion) for the third quarter.
