December 16, 2006	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 24, 1427

LONDON, Dec 15: European stock markets hit their highest levels for more than five years on Friday, after a record overnight performance on Wall Street, with London gains underscored by BAE Systems.

The British capital's FTSE 100 index of leading shares hit 6,258.80 points, which was last breached on February 13, 2001.

Meanwhile, the French CAC 40 index hit 5,540.03 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 touched 6,587.27 points -- both also last seen more than five years ago.

A record high close on the Dow yesterday amid good earnings results has helped to lift Asian and European markets as sentiment turned positive once again as we approach the festive season, said Sucden analyst Michael Davies.

Wall Street's main indexes had surged to fresh highs Thursday as investors appeared encouraged by the latest economic news and shook off a sharp rise in oil prices.

Japanese share prices closed up Friday at a fresh seven-month high after a central bank survey showed business sentiment at its strongest level since September 2004, dealers said.

In early afternoon European deals on Friday, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.34 per cent from Thursday's close to stand at 6,249.30 points. The DAX 30 won 0.32 per cent to 6,573.44 points and the CAC gained 0.51 per cent to 5,537.87 points.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip shares advanced 0.44 per cent to 4,137.07 points.

The euro stood at 1.3118 dollars.

In London, the share price of British defence group BAE Systems soared by almost 8.0 per cent as investors seized on news that the British government had Thursday ended a probe by the Serious Fraud Office into a multi-billion pound (euro/dollar) arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

BAE shares jumped by 7.99 per cent to 429 pence before easing back to 419 pence.

Top performers in Paris included France Telecom, which saw its stock gain 1.84 per cent to 21.02 euros after reconfirming its full-year guidance.

In US deals on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had notched a new all-time record closing high with a gain of 0.81 per cent to close at 12,416.76 points, after touching a new intraday high of 12,431.26.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite meanwhile climbed 0.88 per cent to 2,453.85, its highest level since February 2001.

The Standard and Poor's 500 advanced 0.87 per cent to a preliminary close of 1,425.16, a new six-year high for the broad-market index.—AFP