Euro marts rise on oil's fall

LONDON: European stock markets advanced yesterday, with falling oil prices helping lift the London and Paris exchanges towards five-year highs, dealers said.

The London FTSE 100 index of leading shares gained 0.79% to close at 6,121.30 points. In Paris the CAC 40 rose 0.91% to 5,361.51 while the Frankfurt DAX added 0.67% to finish at 6,160.28.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares closed up 0.82% at 3,999.89.

In New York, Wall Street shares rallied on the back of upbeat news on the corporate earnings front, lifting the Dow Jones index into record territory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt 0.65% to 11,929.37 in morning trade as the blue-chip index broke its all-time intraday high and was poised to set another all-time closing high.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.83% to 2,327.53 and the broad-market Standard & Poor??™s 500 index increased 0.65% to 1,358.70.

US investors were relieved that Wednesday??™s plane crash into a New York apartment building was ruled an accident, not a terrorist attack.

In London, firm metals and miners, further merger speculation and fresh records by Wall Street helping to push the FTSE 100 index to within a whisker of five and a half year highs, dealers said.

Rio Tinto topped the FTSE 100 risers with a gain of 3.50% to 2,665 pence, while Anglo American was 2.69% better 2,369 pence.

British Airways was also higher, adding 2.92% to 449 pence on hopes the national carrier??™s long-running pension dispute with unions could be nearing an end.

In Paris, the construction and telecoms group Bouygues was the sharpest gainer, up 5.16% at 45.46 euros on the CAC 40 market that built on Wednesday??™s five-year high.

Shares in energy group Suez rose 1.82% to 35.24 euros after a press report that financier Francois Pinault was ready to team up with Enel of Italy to launch a takeover bid.

In Frankfurt, truck maker MAN led blue chips higher, adding 3.67% to 69.81 euros after it raised its offer for Sweden??™s Scania and after a report that the German firm appears to have won the backing of Scania??™s biggest shareholder, Volkswagen, for its bid.

DaimlerChrysler added 1.96% to 40.49 euros after the mayor of Hamburg said the German government wanted to buy the 7.5% stake in EADS that DaimlerChrysler has said it may sell.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Amsterdam AEX index rose 0.58% to 492.84 points, the Swiss SMI gained 0.41% to hit a record 8,673.73, in Milan the SP/Mib was up by 0.29% at 39,604, in Madrid the Ibex-35 gained 1.10% to reach a record 13,406.9, and in Brussels the Bel-20 also hit a record 4,181.74 after a rise of 1.27%.

The dollar resisted heavy downward pressure. The single European currency in late-day trade was at $1.2538 after $1.2517 late on Wednesday in New York. The dollar was meanwhile trading at ??119.53 against #119.74 on Wednesday.

On the London Bullion Market, gold prices slipped to $573 per ounce from $574.10 late on Wednesday. ??“ AFP