European stocks closed mixed yesterday after an extended rebound in the struggling technology sector outweighed a fall in oil shares as the crude price weakened.
Swiss specialty chemicals maker Ciba jumped 10 per cent after it said it planned to cut jobs, while insurer Zurich fell two per cent on concerns over the quality of its results, despite beating forecasts.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index unofficially closed 0.07 per cent higher at 1,360.5 points, but the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index ended 0.09 per cent down at 3,496.2.
European shares rallied to three-month highs in the previous two sessions after tame US PPI and CPI inflation figures boosted hopes the Federal Reserve would continue to keep interest rates on hold after 17 straight rises.
Among technology stocks, Finnish mobile handset manufacturer Nokia rose 1.6 per cent, and Swedish mobile network systems maker Ericsson gained 2.2 per cent.
In all the DJ Stoxx European technology sector index added 1.7 per cent to trade at its highest level in six weeks as investors judged that underperforming high-beta stocks now look attractive as US rates peak. However, others are less sure.
"The quality of the (tech) rally I suspect is relatively poor, because quite frankly there is actually nothing positive going on that we can see. It's a bit of a dead cat bounce and a bit of a sector rotation," said Alister Hibbert, an investment director at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership.
He was more upbeat on European equities as a whole. "The market still looks very well underpinned from a valuation standpoint and from a corporate earnings standpoint."
France's CAC 40 rose 0.15 per cent, while Germany's DAX added 0.35 per cent and the UK's FTSE 100 ticked up 0.06 per cent, gaining some ground late as the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq again rallied.
Oil stocks slipped, with Royal Dutch Shell and Total down around one per cent as US crude oil fell to $70.80 a barrel.
Crude is now at its lowest in almost eight weeks, extending recent losses as weekly data on Wednesday showed relatively robust US oil stockpiles, while the ceasefire in the Middle East has also pressured prices.
Austrian oil group OMV fell two per cent as continuing losses from refining at Romanian unit Petrom overshadowed an 11 per cent rise in second-quarter net earnings.