March 26, 2003	Wednesday	Muharram 22, 1424

LONDON, March 25: European share prices reversed early losses on Tuesday as Wall Street opened relatively stable and amid claims from the US-led coalition of key victories in southern Iraq.

The British FTSE 100 index of leading shares edged up 0.50 per cent to 3,762 points, having been mired in loss during morning deals.

The German DAX 30 index rose 2.87pc to 2,621.62 points in late trading and the French CAC 40 index firmed 2.53 per cent to close at 2,795.79 points.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro-zone shares climbed 2.72 per cent to 2,182.52 points.

Investors took heart from modest gains on US markets when trading resumed, after major markets slumped by over three per cent in Europe and the United States a day earlier.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials opened with a gain of 0.07 per cent and the Nasdaq rose 0.29 per cent.

As the battle for Baghdad loomed, coalition forces claimed to have overcome relentless Iraqi combatants with the seizure of the key southern port of Umm Qasr, and the crossing of the Euphrates River at Nasiriyah.

“What we’re seeing is a very volatile market which is driven by war-related sentiment at the moment and probably in rather thin volumes,” said HSBC equity strategist Jason James.

“Everyone’s watching the war and we certainly had a bit of a rethink... where some of the euphoria about a very quick and clean war that we had last week faded as a result of weekend news.”—AFP