June 30, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 14, 1428

LONDON, June 29: Europe's main stock markets mainly fell on Friday after a mixed showing by Wall Street overnight. London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares slid 0.38 per cent to 6,546.30 points in late morning deals, slightly below its level of a week earlier.

Investors digested data which showed that British economic growth grew by a faster-than-expected annual rate of 3.0 per cent during the first quarter.

In Frankfurt the DAX 30 index lost 0.13 per cent to 7,910.92 points, while the Paris CAC 40 edged up 0.03 per cent to 6,007.95.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares decreased by 0.16 per cent to 4,450.64 points.

The euro stood at 1.3465 dollars.

US stocks ended narrowly mixed on Thursday after the Federal Reserve held its key interest rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent and offered few hints about a future change.

London's main index was partly weighed down on Friday by a large fall to the share price of Drax Group.

The power generator shaved 3.17 per cent to 718 pence after publishing a trading update which failed to impress, dealers said.

In Paris, the market was supported by Cap Gemini, which extended a strong run that had begun Thursday.

The French IT and consulting group jumped 1.80 per cent to 54.75 euros after peer Accenture presented solid third-quarter results, and on the back of rumours that India's Infosys may be mulling a bid for Cap Gemini.

WestLB analyst Jonathan Crozier said Accenture's results, released late Thursday, represented a barometer for the health of the industry.

“Cap Gemini releases results on July 27 and this is obviously an encouraging indicator,” he said.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.04 per cent to close at 13,422.28 points on Thursday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 0.12 per cent to 2,608.37.

The broad-market Standard Poor's 500 index shed 0.04 per cent to 1,505.71 points.—AFP