Euro shares boosted by Wall Street

LONDON: European stock markets advanced yesterday, boosted by an upbeat start to the trading day on Wall Street and a turnaround in the fortunes of British broadcaster ITV, dealers said.

London??™s FTSE 100 index of leading shares added 0.73% to 5,860.50 points, Frankfurt??™s Dax 30 index gained 0.90% to 5,702.81 and in Paris the CAC 40 jumped by 1.15% to 5,025.15.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares climbed by 1.07% to 3,707.19 points.

In New York, US technology stocks rallied yesterday after Cisco Systems posted a stronger-than-expected profit, but concerns about soaring crude oil prices helped drive the Dow lower.

The Dow slipped into negative territory, giving up its earlier bounce, while the S&P 500 also trimmed some gains.

Both the blue-chip Dow average and the broader S&P 500 were pressured by a drop in the shares of American International Group. The world??™s largest insurer is scheduled to report quarterly results after the bell.

Cisco shares rose more than 14%, their biggest one-day percentage gain in more than four years, bringing some relief to the tech sector after companies such as Intel Corp and Dell rattled investors with disappointing results and outlooks.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 9.20 points, or 0.08%, at 11,164.39. The Standard & Poor??™s 500 Index was up 4.47 points, or 0.35%, at 1,275.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 22.64 points, or 1.10%, at 2,083.49.

Cisco shares rose 14.6%, or $2.52, to $19.81 on the Nasdaq. Cisco was the biggest positive boost to both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500. Exxon rose 1.1% to $70.03 on the New York Stock Exchange and was the Dow??™s biggest gainer.

Back in London, shares in the biggest British commercial television network ITV leapt by 4.33% to 102.50 pence after falling in early trades.

The group posted half-year profits despite a fall in advertising revenues.

Barclays bank stock was up by 1.74% to 644 pence on a revised price target from Deutsche Bank, while Standard Chartered shares jumped by 2.28% to 1,303 pence.

The emerging markets specialist announced that it had acquired 81% of the Union Bank in Pakistan for $413mn (320mn euros).

In Frankfurt, shares in Commerzbank collapsed, losing 8.39% to 25.76 euros after the second-biggest German bank failed to meet second-quarter expectations owing to higher-than-expected restructuring costs.

In the period from April to June, Commerzbank??™s net profit rose by 63% to 285mn euros, falling short of analysts??™ forecasts of 337mn euros.

In Amsterdam, the AEX index gained 0.69% to 453.29 points, the Swiss SMI jumped by 1.15% to 7,882.93, in Milan the SP/Mib was up by 0.60% 36,851

In Madrid the Ibex-35 added 0.66% to 11,911.6 and in Brussels the Bel-20 closed 0.48% higher at 3,811.59.

The euro, meanwhile, rose to $1.2887 in late European trading, from $1.2835 in New York on Tuesday." In New York, the euro climbed just short of last week's two-month high of $1.2909 before easing back to around $1.2870, up 0.3% from late Tuesday.

The dollar stood at ??115.14, from 115.23 late on Tuesday. The pound was being traded at $1.9087 (1.9074).

On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold rose to $649, from 646 late on Tuesday. ??“ Agencies