June 12, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 26, 1428

LONDON, June 11:European stock markets rebounded Monday on takeover speculation after sharp losses the previous week that were sparked by concerns over higher global interest rates, dealers said.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares won 0.75 per cent to 6,554.20 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 leapt 1.29 per cent to 7,688.36 points and in Paris the CAC 40 added 0.85 per cent to reach 5,933.25.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares rose 0.80 per cent to 4,411.64 points.

The euro stood at 1.3344 dollars. Before the weekend, US stocks had staged a strong rebound on Friday as investors swooped in for beaten-down shares after a three-day drubbing, drawing encouragement from a report showing a narrowing of the US trade deficit.

In London on Monday, shares in Centrica surged 3.82 per cent to 373.25 pence after Russian energy giant Gazprom hinted at a takeover in Britain -- but did not name the company, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper.

In Paris, Societe Generale stock soared 1.29 per cent higher to 142.06 euros, as the French bank continued to be buoyed by talk that it was examining a takeover of larger rival BNP Paribas.

BNP Paribas shares leapt 1.85 per cent to 88.77 euros.

In London, meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition that US hedge-fund firm Atticus Capital had bought shares in British bank Barclays and had met with management to discuss dropping its bid to buy ABN Amro.

Barclays is currently locked in a takeover battle with a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium for control of the Dutch bank.

Barclays' share price rallied 2.49 per cent to 740.50 pence in London.

In Frankfurt, ThyssenKrupp jumped 3.83 per cent to 44.15 euros as the German steelmaker raised full-year forecasts and said it would build a new steel plant in the southern US state of Alabama.

Across the Atlantic on Friday, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt 1.19 per cent to close at 13,424.39 and the Nasdaq composite advanced 1.27 per cent to 2,573.54.

The Standard & Poor's 500 broad-market index climbed 1.14 per cent to finish at 1,507.67.

The snapback came after a sharp three-day sell-off resulting from a huge spike in bond yields as investors shifted away from expectations of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve to a possible rate hike.—AFP