LONDON, Oct 3: Europe’s main stock markets struggled higher on Wednesday, with gains capped amid news of alleged insider trading at Franco-German aerospace group EADS.

The London market was lifted by news of a potential US takeover of struggling British bank Northern Rock.

Nearing the half-way stage, the Paris CAC 40 index of leading shares added a marginal 0.02 per cent to 5,800.52 points and Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was unchanged at 7,947.16 points.

London’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.45 per cent to 6,529.40 points, while the Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares slipped 0.17 percent to 4,419.50 points.

The euro stood at 1.4174 dollars, after hitting a record high 1.4283 dollars earlier in the week.

In Paris on Wednesday, a knowledgeable source said the French market regulator AMF had prepared a report accusing about 20 executives at Airbus parent EADS with massive insider trading.

The newspaper Le Figaro earlier reported that the document alleged that management and shareholders at EADS had engaged in heavy insider trading by selling shares before major problems at Airbus had been made public.

According to Le Figaro the documents are “damaging” for the French conglomerate Lagardere and German automaker DaimlerChrysler, both shareholders in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, as well as key executives at EADS and Airbus.

Wednesday’s newsflow sent Lagardere’s share price tumbling 6.55 percent to 57.75 euros and EADS stock fell 0.41 percent to 21.79 euros.

In Frankfurt, DaimlerChrysler shares lost 0.11 percent to 72.68 euros.

London investors meanwhile focused on reported takeover news.

Northern Rock will hold talks with US private equity firm JC Flowers that could lead to a takeover bid for the crisis-hit British lender, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

The embattled bank’s share price jumped 11.4 percent to 151 pence.

However, the stock has plunged by nearly 80 percent since Northern Rock ran into trouble sourcing credit last month and was forced to request emergency assistance from the Bank of England.

Wall Street shares ended mixed Tuesday a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to a record close on hopes of further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

The Dow Jones index finished 0.29 percent lower at 14,047.31 points, after rallying to a record closing high of 14,087.55 on Monday.—AFP