November 30, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1427

LONDON, Nov 29: European stocks made solid gains on Wednesday after a rebound on Wall Street overnight.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares rose 0.68 per cent to 6,066.70 points in late morning deals, in Frankfurt the DAX 30 won 0.67 per cent to reach 6,324.00 points and the Paris CAC 40 advanced 0.68 per cent to 5,342.66 points.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue-chip shares increased 0.66pc to 4,001.54 points. The euro stood at 1.3148 dollars.

US stocks posted modest gains Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said economic growth is likely to pick up next year and that inflationary pressures, while “uncomfortably high” at the moment, were expected to ease, dealers said.

Japanese share prices pushed higher on Wednesday, regaining the 16,000 points level as investors cheered unexpectedly strong Japanese data.

Dealers in Europe meanwhile reacted to news out of Brussels that EU regulators had Wednesday ruled that Spain is breaking EU rules with new conditions it has imposed on German energy group EON's bid to take over Spanish firm Endesa.

In reaction, the share price in EON gained 0.86 per cent to 96.62 euros in Frankfurt, while in Madrid trade Endesa fell 0.14 per cent to 35.30 euros.

Spain eased its conditions on the bid earlier this month after the European Commission ruled at the end of September that Madrid had breached EU regulations by trying to protect Endesa from EON's takeover offer.

The commission has given Madrid until December 13 to respond to its latest action.

Meanwhile in London, Sage Group, the British supplier of business management software, surged 4.46 per cent to 251.75 pence to head London's FTSE 100. Sage said that its net profit increased by 15.3 per cent to 152.5 million pounds (225.7 million euros, 297 million dollars) in 2005-2006, helped by acquisitions.

Across the Atlantic, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.12 per cent at 12,136.45 points on Tuesday.

The technology-laden Nasdaq composite finished up 0.28 per cent at 2,412.61 points and the broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 0.35 per cent to close at 1,386.72.

The market rebounded from Monday's sharp selloff, which was the worst in several months.—AFP