LONDON, Jan 5: European stock markets steadied on Thursday, pausing for breath after the strong start to 2006 that has seen indices post fresh multi-year highs.
London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares edged up 0.08 per cent to 5,718.90 points in early afternoon deals, while in Frankfurt the DAX 30 dipped 0.11 per cent to 5,517.77 on profit-taking. In Paris the CAC 40 rose 0.07 per cent to 4,841.82.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares nudged ahead by 0.02 per cent to 3,653.02 points.
The euro stood at $1.2087.
European exchanges this week have reached their highest points since the summer of 2001, in the wake of solid gains at the end of last year.
Across the Atlantic, Wall Street had powered ahead Wednesday on expectations that the US Federal Reserve would soon end its policy of hiking interest rates, dealers said. Such a move would ease companies’ borrowing costs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.30 per cent at 10,880.15 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.88 per cent at 2,263.46 points.
The broader Standard and Poor’s 500 index climbed 0.37 per cent to 1,273.46, the highest level in four and a half years.
In Asia on Thursday, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed up 0.39 per cent at 16,425.37 points — the highest finish in more than five years as fresh gains on Wall Street fanned upbeat investor sentiment, dealers said.
Hong Kong’s key Hang Seng Index ended 0.47 per cent higher at 15,271.13.
In London on Thursday, the FTSE 100 was supported by clothing retailer Next, which jumped a further 3.27 per cent to 1,735 pence following a strong trading update on Wednesday, when its share price had soared by 10.31 per cent.
Elsewhere in the British capital Thursday, the fund manager Amvescap climbed 3.14 per cent to 468 pence on a broker upgrade.
However HBOS fell 0.92 per cent to 966.5 pence after Britain’s fourth-biggest bank said its chief operating officer Andy Hornby has been chosen to succeed group chief executive James Crosby, who has decided to step down in July 2006.
British cable TV and telephone provider Cable and Wireless gained 0.59 per cent to 127.5 pence on mounting speculation that France Telecom was mulling a bid for the group.
France Telecom gained 0.51 per cent to 21.81 euros in Paris, where French consulting and IT services group Capgemini meanwhile soared 4.07 per cent to 36.79 euros on broker upgrades.
In Frankfurt, German software giant SAP jumped 2.76 per cent on speculation it will announce its fourth-quarter results ahead of schedule in the coming week. SAP meanwhile announced that one of its founders and former chief executives, Hasso Plattner, has increased his stake in the company to just over 10 per cent.—AFP