February 16, 2007	Friday	Muharram 27, 1428

LONDON, Feb 15: European stock markets mainly eased on Thursday after closing Wednesday at the highest levels for six years.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 0.20 per cent to 6,408.30 points in late morning trade.

In Frankfurt the DAX 30 was flat at 6,961.03 points and in Paris the CAC 40 slipped by 0.09 per cent to 5,720.47 points in early afternoon deals.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip shares dropped 0.19 per cent to 4,258.82 points. The euro stood at 1.3129 dollars.

European stock exchanges had rallied on Wednesday as investors welcomed comments from the head of the US Federal Reserve that suggested no imminent rise in US interest rates.

The news meanwhile helped the leading blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average to close at a record finish on Wall Street.

Japanese share prices closed higher on Thursday at a more than six-year high as investors cheered unexpectedly strong fourth-quarter economic growth figures, dealers said.

In London, the FTSE 100 was dragged down by losses to heavyweight miners.

On the upside, Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier saw its share price surge 6.29 per cent to 642.5 pence after the group unveiled plans to sell its under-performing education division.

In Paris meanwhile, French banks slumped following disappointing full-year earnings news from BNP Paribas, which followed Wednesday's poor results from Societe Generale.

BNP Paribas slumped 3.10 per cent to 84.3 euros, Societe Generale shed 1.82 per cent to 134.8 euros, while Credit Agricole, another French bank, lost 2.90 per cent to 32.16 euros.

In New York on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.69 per cent to a record closing high of 12,741.86 points, after Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke told Congress he foresees sustainable economic growth ahead with inflation likely to ease.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rallied 1.16 per cent to 2,488.38 points and the broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index ended up 0.76 per cent at 1,455.30.—AFP