Europe's main stock indexes closed mixed Tuesday, though shares were given a boost by the telecommunications sector after good results and an optimistic outlook from Vodafone, according to AP. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index added 0.4 percent to 6,362.4, while France's CAC-40 Index edged up nearly 0.1 percent to 5,538.91. Germany's DAX Index lost 0.4 percent to 7,777.56. «Telecoms are defensive stocks, still with reasonably good valuations,» said Simon Goodfellow, an equity strategist at ING Financial Markets in London. «Investors want greater defensive exposure, and the outlook for telecommunications revenues is better than it was six months ago.» Vodafone's first-half revenue rose 9 percent, coming in slightly higher than analysts' expectations, driven by an almost 49 percent rise in more profitable mobile data revenues and a strong performance in its Indian and Turkish operations. The company also increased its revenue, adjusted operating profit and free cash flow outlook for the 2008 financial year. Vodafone shares rose 7.5 percent, and the results helped the entire telecom sector. France Telecom gained 3.2 percent, TeliaSonera advanced 1.6 percent and Deutsche Telecom rose 2.5 percent. A well-received trading update from EMAP helped lift the media sector higher. The London-based media company said it was «encouraged» by interest in all parts of the group from both private equity and trade buyers, and was confident of achieving full-year targets. EMAP gained 2.0 percent, while Johnston Press soared 8.5 percent and Daily Mail & General Trust climbed 5.5 percent. Vivendi added 1.6 percent and Reed Elsevier rose 1.6 percent. Oil stocks fell back as crude oil prices fell more than 2 percent. The International Energy Agency projected slower world oil demand growth while Saudi Arabia, the world's largest producer, questioned fears over global supply tightness. Dutch oil-field services company Fugro lost 4.9 percent, while Italy's Saipem SpA lost 4.5 percent. The U.K.'s Cairn Energy lost 3.0 percent. Shares in Swiss tour operator Kuoni rose 2.8 percent after it announced a 14 percent increased in third-quarter net profit. Germany's E.On fell 0.4 percent despite reporting stronger-than-expected nine-month results. The world's largest investor-owned utility by market value reported a profit for the three months ending Sept. 30, compared to a loss in the same period last year.
