June 30, 2006	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 3, 1427

LONDON, June 29: European stock markets advanced strongly on Thursday on some bargain-hunting and following gains by Wall Street and for Japanese shares ahead of an expected hike in US interest rates, dealers said.

US Federal Reserve policymakers were widely tipped to increase American borrowing costs by a quarter-point to 5.25 per cent later in the day.

In afternoon deals, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares gained 1.26 per cent to 5,749.90 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index rose 1.32 per cent to 5,528.35 points and in Paris the CAC 40 jumped 1.49 per cent to 4,845.28 points.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares increased 1.37 per cent to 3,553.97 points.

The euro stood at $1.2521.

In London, the FTSE was lifted by heavyweight mining and oil stocks, which gained owing to higher metals and crude prices, dealers said.

US shares see-sawed to a higher close Wednesday as investors braced for a Fed rate call and a message on monetary policy that could offer clues on the economic outlook.

Japanese share prices rallied Thursday as bargain hunters scooped up beaten down stocks, encouraged by overnight gains on Wall Street.

In London, Chilean-based copper miner Antofagasta surged 2.28 percent to 404 pence, Swiss mining group Xstrata climbed 2.34 percent to 1,922 pence and British energy giant BP rose 1.54 percent to 628 pence.

On Wednesday in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.47 per cent to 10,975.80 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 0.56 per cent to 2,112.07 at the closing bell.

The broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index gained 0.57 per cent at 1,246.21 points.

Trading was volatile as jitters resurfaced over a two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting that opened Wednesday.

The market is anticipating a quarter-point rate hike, the 17th in a row, but will also pore over the central bank statement for clues on its next moves.—AFP