European shares steady as firmer banks offset weaker telecoms
LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - European stock markets were steady on Monday, as a rise in the shares of major banks such as Bankia offset a fall in the telecoms sector after Nokia (Milan: 23568.MI - news) settled a dispute with Samsung.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, whose 6 percent fall in January was its worst monthly drop at the start of a year since 2008, rose 0.1 percent.
Bankia (Amsterdam: QU8.AS - news) rose 7.1 percent after the state-controlled Spanish bank reported higher profits.
But shares in Nokia and Alcatel (Paris: FR0000130007 - news) -- which Nokia is in the process of acquiring -- slumped around 10 percent after Nokia settled a patent dispute with South Korea's Samsung. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Catherine Evans)