Mergers Lead Europe up

Elena
05 May, 2006
Frankfurt

European markets advanced at mid-day, lifted by strong U.S. markets close Thursday, merger-and-acquisition news, and oil prices below $70 a barrel. Investors were somewhat cautious ahead of key U.S. economic data. The German DAX 30 rose 0.4%, the French CAC 40 climbed 0.6%, and London FTSE 100 advanced 0.6%.

[R]8:15AM European markets advanced at mid-day on merger deals.[/R]
European markets traded in the positive at mid-day, lifted by strong U.S. markets close Thursday, merger-and-acquisition news and oil prices below $70 a barrel. Stocks traded in a tight range ahead of U.S. economic data on April nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate. Deal talk provided a boost to the market sentiment, with banking group Alliance & Leicester, up 6.7% on speculation that the company is in bid talks with Spain''s Banco Santander Central Hispano. Dutch media company VNU gained 4.8% after a consortium of private-equity firms upped their bid for the company to $11 billion. The German DAX 30 rose 0.4%, the French CAC 40 climbed 0.6%, and London FTSE 100 advanced 0.6%.


[R]7:30AM Australia advanced on commodities, Taiwan up on tech stocks.[/R]
Asian markets closed higher today, with a great part of the markets closed for public holidays. Shares in Australia gained on strong commodities, the Australian index S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.28% to 5,255.40. The rally was spurred by Bulliton’s optimistic outlook on the copper market, which caught short-seller off-guard on Thursday. Taiwan’s Weighted index finished 0.3% higher to 7,370.44, mainly on tech stock and financial shares, amid the positive revision of Credit Suisse‘s year-end target for Taiwan''s stock index from 7,300 to 8,000 on positive earnings outlook and less political risks. Southeast Asia ended up mixed. Shares in Malaysian advanced 0.76%, while Indonesia shed 0.09%. The Singapore Straits Times Index declined 0.46%. New Zealand’s shares also finished lower, the benchmark NZX-50 Index edging down 1.1%.Telecom Corp. fell 6.7%, after posting 19% fall in quarterly earnings.