December 06, 2006	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 14, 1427

LONDON, Dec 5: European stock markets rose solidly on Tuesday after Wall Street had rebounded overnight. London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares climbed 0.43 per cent to 6,076.60 points in late morning deals, in Frankfurt the DAX 30 gained 0.45 per cent to reach 6,323.59 points, while the Paris CAC 40 won 0.58 per cent to 5,326.71.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip shares increased 0.53 per cent to 3,984.13 points.

The euro stood at 1.3319 dollars.

Wall Street shares had leapt on Monday after The Bank of New York announced it was taking over Mellon Financial for $16.5 billion (24.5 billion euros), while falling oil prices helped also, traders said.

Meanwhile India's benchmark share index powered past the 14,000 points mark for the first time Tuesday, led by foreign fund buying on the back of strong growth figures and forecasts for Asia's fourth-largest economy.

In London, US-exposed stocks enjoyed a comeback as the dollar recovered slightly, with broker ICAP soaring 3.37 per cent at 4.25 pence and investment manager Amvescap advancing 3.13 per cent to 560.5 pence, dealers said.

EDF surged 4.62 per cent to 54.4 euros in Paris -- the French electricity generator continuing to gain from a ruling last week that price controls imposed by the French government are in breach of EU rules.

German engineering conglomerate Linde was the top performer in Frankfurt, winning 2.45 per cent to 76.20 euros.

After passing the 74.85 euro-per-share mark, the issues were able to break the negative trend over the last seven days and jump upwards, one trader said.

In New York on Monday, the broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index closed up 0.89 per cent at 1,409.12 points -- the highest finish since November 8, 2000.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.74 per cent to 12,283.85 points and the technology-laden Nasdaq composite jumped 1.46 per cent at 2,448.39.—AFP