LONDON, June 18: Europe’s main stock markets held steady on Monday, amid news of a 14-billion-dollar takeover bid for British chemicals group Imperial Chemical Industries. Dealers also tracked the Paris Air Show in France, where more large orders were expected across the global aerospace sector this week.

In European deals, London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares eased 0.03 per cent to 6,730.10 points, in Paris the CAC 40 slid 0.09 per cent to 6,099.59 points, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 firmed 0.47 per cent to 8,068.40.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares slipped 0.18 per cent to 4,542.99 points.

Despite Monday’s subdued showing in Europe, the global outlook remained upbeat for equities, dealers said.

Global equities remain strong following tame US inflation numbers on Friday, which have eased fears of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve Bank, said analysts at the Sucden brokerage in London.

US stocks extended their rally to a third day on Friday as an eagerly awaited monthly inflation snapshot had revealed prices largely in check, excluding food and energy.

European investors focused Monday on news that Britain's Imperial Chemical Industries has rejected a takeover offer of 7.2 billion pounds (10.7 billion euros, 14.3 billion dollars) from Dutch rival Akzo Nobel.

ICI shares rocketed 16.8 per cent to 641 pence after earlier touching as high as 644 pence in London.

In Paris, the price of shares in the EADS European aerospace group gained 0.86 per cent to 24.49 euros after its main business Airbus fired the first shots at the Paris Air Show on Monday.—AFP