December 22, 2006	Friday	Ziqa’ad 30, 1427

LONDON, Dec 21: European shares slid lower on Thursday along with counterparts in early Wall Street trades after US data showed that third quarter economic growth was more modest than previously thought, dealers said.

London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 0.24 per cent to 6,183.70 points, in Frankfurt the DAX eased 0.20 per cent to 6,573.96 points, and the Paris CAC 40 gave up a slight 0.07 per cent to 5,510.39.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip shares was off by 0.16pc at 4,112.10 points.

As European stock markets closed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 12,462.26 points on Wall Street, while the Nasdaq Composite showed a gain of 0.15 per cent to 2,431.31 at Times Square.

The broad Standard and Poor's 500 index was unchanged at 1,423.63 points.

In Paris, the energy, water and sanitation group Suez saw its share price jump by 2.06 per cent to 38.57 euros.The French newspaper Le Figaro had said that business heavyweight Francois Pinault might accompany a bid for Suez with an understanding that he would then sell Suez's energy activities to the gas group Gaz de France (GDF).

GDF shares, meanwhile, rose 1.60 per cent to 34.23 euros.

In London, Vodafone sank 1.47 per cent to 143.85 pence after the Financial Times reported that the telecoms behemoth was preparing a 13.5-billion-dollar takeover bid for Hutchison Essar, India's fourth largest mobile operator.

In Amsterdam, the AEX index lost 0.20 per cent to 494.62 points, the Swiss SMI was essentially unchanged at 8,775.42, in Milan the SP/Mib edged 0.10 per cent lower to 41,272, in Madrid the Ibex-35 dropped by 0.36 per cent to 14,150.4 and in Brussels the Bel-20 bucked the trend, gaining 0.49 per cent to set a new record of 4,366.52 points.—AFP