A DIP IN OIL PRICES AND HOPES OF SOLID EARNINGS IN THE MINING AND STEEL SECTORS HELPED TO LIFT EUROPEAN SHARES TO THEIR HIGHEST CLOSE IN NEARLY FIVE YEARS ON FRIDAY, OFFSETTING ERICSSON'S BELOW-FORECAST RESULTS, ACCORDING TO REUTERS. BASIC PRODUCERS WERE THE REGION'S BEST PERFORMERS, WITH MINERS ANTOFAGASTA AND XSTRATA AND STEELMAKERS THYSSENKRUPP AND CORUS ALL SURGING BETWEEN 3 AND 5 PERCENT ON HOPES THAT SUSTAINED DEMAND FOR METALS AND STEEL WOULD UNDERPIN THEIR PRICING POWER AND BOOST THEIR EARNINGS. BASF WAS ANOTHER OUTPERFORMER, ADDING NEARLY 3 PERCENT AMID MARKET RUMOURS THAT THE GERMAN CHEMICALS GROUP'S $4.9 BILLION OFFER FOR ENGELHARD MAY FACE COMPETITION. THE PAN-EUROPEAN FTSEUROFIRST 300 INDEX OF LEADING SHARES ADDED 0.7 PERCENT TO END AT 1,397.07 POINTS, ITS HIGHEST CLOSE SINCE JULY 2001 AND FINISHING THE WEEK 2 PERCENT HIGHER AFTER A RAFT OF MOSTLY SOLID CORPORATE EARNINGS. "THE EARNINGS SEASON CONTINUES TO BE A DECENT ONE, WITH NOKIA BEATING ... EXPECTATIONS, THOUGH ERICSSON MISSED," SAID MERRILL LYNCH STRATEGIST DAVID ROSENBERG. ROSENBERG ALSO SAID THAT IN THE UNITED STATES, WHERE THE EARNINGS SEASON WAS MORE ADVANCED, MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS OF COMPANIES THAT HAVE ALREADY REPORTED HAD BEATEN ANALYSTS' EXPECTATIONS. NOKIA ROSE 1.4 PERCENT ON THE BACK OF BULLISH BROKER NOTES A DAY AFTER THE TECH BELLWETHER'S FIRST-QUARTER NUMBERS BEAT ALL MARKET EXPECTATIONS, BUT ERICSSON TUMBLED 7.3 PERCENT AS ITS EARNINGS LAGGED EXPECTATIONS DUE TO COSTS FROM ITS ACQUISITION OF MARCONI, NEW CONTRACTS AND COMPETITION. --MORE 2250 Local Time 1950 GMT
