The FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.5 percent to 1,179.08 on Thursday. Daimler Chrysler was up, initially gaining on speculation that its chief executive, Jurgen Schremmp would step down.

Confirmation of those rumors, coupled with better-than-expected profits, had shares up 9 percent at the close to €39.59.

Shares had traded as high as €40.40 earlier in the day, their highest level in almost three years. Fiat was up 4.1 percent to €7.165 on a much better than anticipated quarterly report, in which the Italian carmaker said it had cut losses to €88 million, down from €238 in the same quarter last year.

Alcatel, the telecommunications equipment maker, gained 4.3 percent to €10.09 on the report that its second quarter profits had more than doubled to €196 million and that it was getting ready to pay its first dividend. Despite all of this, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein did not remove its recommendation to sell shares in Fiat.

Syngenta, the Swiss chemicals group that is second in the world in agricultural chemicals, gained 5.4 percent to SF4135.20 after it reported a net profit of 17 percent in the first half of the year. It up most of that gain to demand for its new crop protection products.