June 15, 2006	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 18, 1427

LONDON, June 14:European stock markets mounted a small rebound on Wednesday, mirroring a recovery by Japanese shares, a day after global indices endured another beating on concerns that higher interest rates would dampen economic growth.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares rose 0.35 per cent to 5,538.70 points in morning trade on bargain-hunting, dealers said.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 index climbed 0.61 per cent to 5,324.56 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.18 per cent to 4,626.01. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares advanced 0.55 per cent to 3,426.62 points.

Europe's main indices had shed about 2.0 per cent by the close Tuesday.

Japanese share prices rebounded also on Wednesday, a day after the Tokyo bourse posted its biggest single-day drop since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

US stocks had slid further Tuesday as tumbling commodity prices highlighted concerns about slowing global economic growth, adding to market jitters about inflation, dealers said.

In London on Wednesday mining stocks rebounded strongly, with Rio Tinto up 2.43 per cent at 2,609 pence and Xstrata rising 2.36 per cent to 1,862 pence.

Miners have fallen heavily in recent weeks amid tumbling metals prices.

Elsewhere in the British capital Associated British Ports Holdings surged 7.21 per cent to 833 pence on the second tier FTSE 250 index.

AB Ports, the biggest port operator in Britain, said Wednesday that it has agreed to an increased takeover offer from a consortium led by US investment bank Goldman Sachs, which values it at 2.484 billion pounds (3.635 billion euros, 4.573 billion dollars).

On the downside, Tesco shed 1.52 per cent to 324.75 pence after Britain's biggest supermarket posted an in-line trading update.

But Tesco's loss was massively overshadowed by a near 20-per cent fall by EADS. The European aerospace and defence company plunged 19.7 per cent to 20.41 euros on the Paris stock market.

It came after an overnight profit warning following news that its Airbus unit announced fresh delays in deliveries of the A380 super-jumbo.

In Asia meanwhile, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed up 0.64 per cent at 14,309.56 points. On Tuesday it had plunged more than four per cent to a seven-month low.

On Wall Street Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.80 per cent to 10,706.14 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slid for the eighth consecutive session, dropping 0.90 per cent to 2,072.47 points and the broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index shed 1.03 per cent to 1,223.69.-—AFP