October 05, 2006	Thursday	Ramazan 11, 1427

LONDON, Oct 4: European equity markets advanced on Wednesday after Wall Street's Dow Jones shares index hit an overnight record on plunging energy prices, but the aerospace sector flew into turbulence, dealers said.

Crude oil prices in London and New York dipped below $58 per barrel on Wednesday, which should boost corporate profits and ease fears of rising inflation, they added.

However in Asia, Tokyo shares fell Wednesday as initial optimism gave way to caution that weaker economic activity might be behind the sharp decline in energy costs.

Meanwhile, shares in Paris-listed aerospace company EADS went into a tailspin after the group revealed Tuesday that deliveries of the troubled Airbus A380 super jumbo would be delayed by another year.

In European trading, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares won 0.20 per cent to 5,949.20 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.41 per cent to 6,016.56 and in Paris, the CAC 40 index added 0.36 per cent to 5,238.64 points.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares increased 0.55 per cent in value to 3,901.40 points. The euro stood at 1.2685 dollars.

Wall Street's blue-chip Dow Jones share index had closed at a record high Tuesday as investors cheered plunging world oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.49 per cent at 11,727.34 points -- breaking the record from January 14, 2000 when the index had hit 11,722.98 at the height of the “dot-com” boom.

In Paris, the share price of EADS tumbled 6.23 per cent to 21.24 euros on Wednesday, a day after it announced new A380 delays and warned it expected losses in core earnings of 2.8 billion euros ($3.6 billion).

Credit Suisse lowered its recommendation on the European Aeronautic Defence and Space company to “under perform” from “neutral” on the likelihood that EADS aircraft unit Airbus will have to compensate customers.

The stock had earlier fallen as low as 20 euros, which marked a fall of more than 11.0 per cent. EADS owns 80 per cent of Airbus.

In London, Britain's BAE Systems, which holds the remaining 20-per cent stake in Airbus, saw its shares slide 0.75 per cent to 396.25 pence.Across in Frankfurt, Germany's DaimlerChrysler -- which owns 22.3 per cent of EADS -- saw its shares slip 0.10 per cent to 39.15 euros.

Meanwhile oil-exposed stocks, such as airline and auto companies, enjoyed a strong showing.

Lufthansa shares won 1.20 per cent to 16.85 euros, while British Airways soared 2.42 per cent to 444.75 pence in London.

Back in US trading on Tuesday, the broad-market S and P 500 index finished 0.21 per cent higher at 1,334.11 points, while the tech-rich Nasdaq composite closed up 0.27 per cent at 2,243.65 points.

The Dow's closing spurt, meanwhile, came after it had struck an intra-day record high of 11,758.95, bursting its prior record of 11,750.28 reached in January 2000.—AFP