February 15, 2007	Thursday	Muharram 26, 1428

LONDON, Feb 14: European stock exchanges rose on Wednesday, lifted by strong gains to mining shares which benefited from news of a possible takeover of US aluminium giant Alcoa, dealer said.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares edged up 0.05 per cent to 6,384.80 points in early afternoon trade, in Frankfurt the DAX 30 added 0.31 per cent to 6,916.95 points and in Paris the CAC 40 increased 0.24 per cent to 5,696.56 points.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip shares gained 0.13 per cent to 4,244.61 points.

The euro stood at 1.3085 dollars.

US shares had rallied on Tuesday after the Alcoa report raised investors' hopes that a flurry of big corporate takeovers could be imminent, dealers said.

Japanese share prices closed above 17,700 points Wednesday for the first time for six years and nine months, boosted by a stronger Wall Street and optimism toward the local economy, dealers said.

In Frankfurt, German steel giant ThyssenKrupp jumped 5.08 per cent to 38.25 euros and in Paris Arcelor-Mittal -- the world's biggest steel group -- jumped 3.20 per cent to 37.44 euros.

In London, miner Anglo American gained 1.96 per cent to 2,544 pence and peer Rio Tinto advanced 1.93 per cent to 2,806 pence.

Heading London's FTSE 100 meanwhile was British building supplies group Wolseley, which saw its share price surge 4.65 per cent to 1,373 pence following press reports that it faced interest from private equity interest.

London's City AM daily financial newspaper reported that Wolseley is facing a 10.0 billion-pound (14.95 billion-euro, 19.55 billion-dollar) takeover offer from private equity firm Cinven.

In New York on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.81 per cent at 12,654.85 points.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.39 per cent to 2,459.88 points and the broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index climbed 0.76 per cent to 1,444.26.—AFP