Europe rebounds on energy stocks

Traders take share orders at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Europe's major markets recouped earlier losses to end slightly higher on Tuesday, supported by gains in the energy and chemicals sectors.

London's FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent to 5,165.6 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris gained 0.7 percent to 4,462.74, while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax was up 0.4 percent to 5,027.37 in late trading (the German market closes at 1900 GMT).

The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, added 0.5 percent, with the oil and gas, and chemical sub-indices the top gainer. The media and telecom sub-indices were among the big losers.

BP, the world's third-largest publicly traded oil company, said on Tuesday first-quarter profit tumbled 57 percent amid the worst refining slump in a decade, although the results were in line with analysts expectations. The company's shares rose 2.9 percent in London.

BASF (FBAS), Europe's biggest chemicals company, rose 5 percent after it said it expects to "significantly" improve earnings this year after posting a smaller first quarter fall in operating profit than analysts had forecast.

Operating profit before costs slid 15 percent to 818 million euros ($740 million) in the three months to March 31. Sales dropped 11.3 percent to 8.24 billion euros.

Franco-German drug group Aventis (PAVE) rose 2.9 percent. The company said net income rose 42 percent to 430 million euros and expected 2002 earnings-per-share growth of 25-30 percent, based on sales growth of 11-12 percent.

Among the closely watched telecom stocks, Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, rebounded from earlier loss to end 1.5 percent higher. Ericsson, the world's biggest telecom equipment maker, gained 1.6 percent after falling at midday.

In the tech sector, British accounting software group Sage (SGE) avoided the slide in stocks, jumping 5.2 percent after reporting a 10 percent rise in first-half profit, driven by a better-than-expected rise in new customers, and voiced guarded optimism for the full year.

Declines in the media sector were led by Vivendi Universal (PEX). The French group fell 2.8 percent after it posted late on Monday a first quarter loss of 17 billion euros, reflecting a 17 billion euro writedown of goodwill following a massive acquisition spree.

Shares in Metro (FMEO) were down 1.2 percent in late Frankfurt trading. On Tuesday, Europe's third largest retailer unveiled a weaker-than-expected first quarter loss before interest and tax of 5.9 million euros.