7:00PM Frankfurt, Paris; 1:00 PM New York – European markets closed higher. German automakers gained on higher U.S. sales in October. Societe Generale third quarter earnings doubled. Total SA quarterly net declined 37% on lower refining margin and lower oil price.

General Motors board rejected a plan to sell Adam Open GmbH to Canada based Magna International. The move the keep the German unit in-house may lead a strike at the plant, demand for the deferred wages and loan recall from German government of 1.5 billion euros.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 81.73 or 1.62% to 5,118.94, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 93.15 or 2.60% to close at 3,677.40, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 106.05 or 1.98% to close at 5,459.40. In Zurich trading SMI increased 65.55 or 1.05% to close at 6,278.90.

The dollar declined 1.1% to $1.488 against one euro.

Gainers & Losers

Adidas AG added 3.5% to €33.80 after the sportswear and footwear maker said third quarter sales fell 6% to €2.89 billion from €3.08 billion a year ago. Net profit in the quarter fell 30% to €213 million or €1.03 per diluted share compared to net profit of €302 million or €1.44 per share a year ago.

BMW AG rose 0.9% to €31.81 after the maker of luxury vehicles makers’ U.S. sales fell 19% to 20,619 cars in October.

Daimler AG rose 3.9% to €32.81 after the maker of luxury vehicles said its U.S. sales last month increased 9.4%, led by a jump in Mercedes Benz volumes.

Porsche Automobil Holding SE rose 1.9% to €52.50.

Scor SE climbed 1.5% to €17.57 after the insurer said third quarter gross written premiums rose 3% to €1.63 billion from €1.58 billion a year ago. Net profit in the quarter rose 147% to €94 million compared to net profit of €38 million a year ago.

Societe Generale SA rose 4.1% to €45.47 after the banking group said third quarter net profit rose 133% to €426 million compared to net profit of €183 million a year ago.

SolarWorld AG increased 1.5% to €14.92 after the solar company said third quarter sales fell 2.4% to €232.5 million from €238.3 million a year ago. Net income after taxes from continued operations in the quarter fell 56% to €16 million compared to net profit of €36.1 million a year ago.

Total SA fell 0.2% to €40.85 an integrated international oil and gas company said third quarter sales fell 31% to €33.63 billion from €48.85 billion a year ago. Net profit in the quarter fell 37% to €1.92 billion or €0.86 per diluted share compared to net profit of €3.05 billion or €1.36 per share a year ago.

United Internet AG increased 6.3% to €9.46 after the Internet access provider said third quarter sales grew 4.4%.

Volkswagen AG added 1.6% to €107.95 after the carmaker said US sales rose 3.4% to 17,037 in October 2009.

DAX Index Movers

Beiersdorf AG led the decliners in the DAX index of 3.17%.

Infineon Technologies AG led gainers in the DAX index with a rise of 6.49% followed by increase in Commerzbank AG of 4.07%, in Salzgitter AG of 3.90%, in Deutsche Lufthansa AG of 3.88%, Deutsche Post AG of 3.82%.

CAC-40 Index Movers

Pernod Ricard SA led the decliners in the CAC-40 index of 0.68%.

Alcatel Lucent gainers in the CAC-40 index with a rise of 6.28% followed by gainers in Technip of 6.05%, Accor SA of 5.61%, in Credit Agricole SA of 5.51%, in Societe Generale SA of 5.38%.

TOT	$51.40	0.84%
SAP	$77.18	-0.16%
CS	$28.69	0.53%
UBS	$18.07	0.84%

click on symbol for profile