June 23, 2006	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 26, 1427

LONDON, June 22: European stocks rose strongly on Thursday, with London lifted by buoyant mining shares despite a downbeat airline sector, and after solid showings in Tokyo and overnight on Wall Street.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares jumped 1.11 percent to 5,728.00 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index also leapt 1.11 per cent to 5,564.44 points and in Paris the CAC 40 bounced 1.17 per cent to 4,830.65.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares gained 1.03 per cent to 3,563.12 points.

The euro stood at 1.2645 dollars.

US stocks had vaulted higher on Wednesday after robust earnings reports from investment bank Morgan Stanley and delivery giant FedEx helped Wall Street break out of early summer doldrums.

Japanese share prices soared on Thursday, posting the biggest single-day rise in nearly five months, as investors welcomed gains on Wall Street and strong local trade data, dealers said.

Meanwhile, BA announced on Thursday that Britain's Office of Fair Trading and the United States Department of Justice were investigating alleged cartel activity involving it and other airlines.

In reaction to the news, the airline's share price plummeted by 4.42 percent to 351.5 pence in London trading.

The probe was in relation to pricing of passenger air transportation, including fuel surcharges, BA said, but did not name the other carriers involved.

German flag carrier Lufthansa said it had no knowledge of such an investigation but its shares sank 0.85 per cent to 14.03 euros in Frankfurt.

Meanwhile, mining companies in London benefited from the rising price of metals such as gold, silver and copper.

Anglo American shares jumped 2.99 percent to 2,169 pence, Xstrata gained 2.52 per cent to 2,035 pence and Rio Tinto added 2.22 percent to 2,859 pence.

Back in the US on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 0.95 per cent to 11,079.46 points, while the Nasdaq composite leapt 1.62 per cent to 2,141.20.

The broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index advanced 0.97 per cent to 1,252.20.

While US markets had languished in the previous three sessions, a wave of buying interest was sparked by surprisingly strong earnings reports that helped shift the focus away from economic and geopolitical worries.

In Asia on Thursday, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed 3.36 per cent higher at 15,135.69 points -- closing above 15,000 for the first time since June 7. It was the index's biggest single day gain since January 27.

The key Tokyo index cracked the 15,000-point mark for the first time in two weeks, pressing ahead after a volatile month triggered by concerns the United States will keep raising interest rates to combat inflation.—AFP