October 12, 2007	Friday	Ramazan 29, 1428

LONDON, Oct 11:Europe’s main stock markets rose on Thursday, with London lifted by increased prospects of a cut to British interest rates amid evidence of a housing slowdown, dealers said.

London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares climbed by 0.84 per cent to 6,688.60 points, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 advanced 0.57 per cent to 8,031.99 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.73 per cent to 5,881.25.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares won 0.62 per cent to stand at 4,470.37 points.

The euro stood at 1.4202 dollars.

In Britain, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors on Thursday said house prices were falling at their fastest rate for two years, amid high British interest rates and the global credit squeeze.

Global Insight analyst Howard Archer said high British interest rates, modest real disposable income growth and elevated house prices were taking an increasing toll on the housing market.

It now seems likely that the Bank of England’s next move will be to trim interest rates, which will provide some relief to the housing market, he added.

British interest rates currently stand at a six-year high of 5.75 per cent.

Any cut to borrowing costs is seen as good news for companies as it reduces their interest repayments and provides many indebted consumers with more

disposable income.

On the FTSE 100, shares in asset manager Schroders registered the index’s biggest gains in morning trade, jumping 4.56 per cent to 1,353 pence.

There were also strong rises for miners, led by Xstrata which gained 3.36 per cent to 3,571 pence.

On the European continent car groups raced ahead as German automaker Volkswagen pointed to strong sales data from China. Volkswagen climbed 3.80 per cent to 181.90 euros after the company said sales in China surged 30 per cent during the first nine months of 2007.

In Paris, French automaker Renault advanced 1.76 per cent to 113.81 euros.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Japanese share prices closed at a two-month high after Japan’s central bank refrained from hiking interest rates and Sony Corp’s newly listed financial arm made a solid debut, dealers said.

They said the market was also buoyed by a weaker yen and an upgrade to Japan’s domestic debt rating by Moody’s Investors Service.

On Wall Street, US shares ended mostly lower Wednesday, as lackluster earnings news and Boeing’s problems in its Dreamliner programme prompted investors to lock in gains following a record-setting session.

Boeing slid 2.7 per cent to $98.68 as it pushed back by six months the first deliveries of its highly touted 787 Dreamliner jet, which now will not reach customers until December 2008.—AFP