LONDON, Oct 2: Europe’s main stock markets rallied on Tuesday after Wall Street hit a record closing high overnight and Japanese share prices struck two-month peaks on easing credit concerns linked to the US housing crisis, dealers said.

London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares rose 0.50 per cent to 6,538.70 points nearing the half-way mark.

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 of leading shares climbed 0.51 per cent to 7,962.91 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.73 per cent to 5,815.44.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares advanced 0.61 per cent to 4,436.62 points.

The euro stood at $1.4165, a day after striking a new record high of $1.4283.

Wall Street shares kicked off the fourth quarter with gusto on Monday, pushing the Dow to a record closing high above 14,000 points as investors seemed to bet on fresh Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

In London, home builders and banks jumped as credit concerns also dampened in Britain, dealers said.

Taylor Wimpey home builder surged 5.98 to 292.25 pence and Barclays bank soared 4.58 per cent to 628 pence.

Elsewhere Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer and which is about to open stores in the United States, saw its share price grow 3.62 per cent to 451.25 pence.

The supermarket giant said that interim net profit grew by almost a fifth, boosted by online sales of goods ranging from bananas to beds.

The world’s third-biggest supermarket reported an 18.8-per cent rise in net profits to 936 million pounds (1.908 billion dollars, 1.345 billion euros) during the first six months of its current financial year.

Group revenue climbed 9.1 per cent to 22.631 billion pounds in the first half ended August 25, compared with the same six-month period in 2006, Tesco added in its earnings statement.

In New York meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.38 per cent to an all-time closing high of 14,087.55 points on Monday, after earlier smashing the psychological 14,000-point barrier for the first time since July.—AFP