If 1999's performance is anything to go by, all eyes in the City should be on Lehman Brothers' Top 10 Uncommon EuroValues stocks.

This year's hopefuls also include a wide-ranging, eclectic group of European blue chips although four entries – electronics giant Philips, information technology hardware ASM Lithography Holdings, food and beverage group Heineken and telecoms operator KPN, all hail from The Netherlands. Telecoms and electronics – Mannesmann from Germany and Ericsson from Sweden – also get a mention as do the UK's household product group Reckitt Benkiser and pharmaceutical heavyweight AstraZeneca. Other entries include Total Fina, the French oil and gas firm, and ABB, Swiss diversified industrial products company.