AFX European summary - late 23 Jan 2007

AFX European summary - late 23 Jan 2007

	Published : Tue, 23 Jan 2007 19:01 By : Agencies Print this Story

LONDON (AFX) - European markets at close

LONDON (AFX) - UK blue chips closed up, reversing earlier losses, bolstered by a positive start across the Atlantic where some healthy corporate earnings news helping lift sentiment, with the mining sector also buoying investor mood, dealers said.

At the close the FTSE 100 was 9.2 points higher at 6,227.6, having hit a session low of 6,189.2.

The broader indices remained mainly weaker.

Volume was moderate with 3.2 bln shares trading in 420,695 deals.

FRANKFURT (AFX) - German shares closed flat in correction after last week's gains but off this afternoon's lows helped by early gains on Wall Street, dealers said.

The DAX closed 8.38 points or 0.13 pct lower at 6,678.93, having traded between 6,627.96 and 6,704.36 today.

The MDAX lost 21.03 points or 0.22 pct to 9,613.56, while the TecDAx gained 0.64 points or 0.08 pct to 797.38.

The DAX futures contract lost 7.50 points or 0.11 pct to 6,712.50.

Bund futures were largely flat, up 0.06 points or 0.05 pct to 115.58.

PARIS (AFX) - Share prices closed slightly lower and Alcatel-Lucent plummeted in very heavy volume after warning it will report a decline in sales and operating profit for 2006, dealers said.

The CAC-40 index ended down 4.71 points at 5,575.07 on volume of 6.6 bln eur, off a low of 5,539.76.

18 stocks were lower, 20 higher and two were unchanged

On the Matif, February CAC-40 futures were trading down 9.5 points at 5,582.5.

AMSTERDAM (AFX) - Shares in Amsterdam closed lower, but recovered from intraday lows late in the session on a positive Wall Street, dealers said.

The AEX closed down 0.14 pct or 0.69 points at 502.82, after trading in the range 498.97-504.27.

Government bonds traded broadly lower, while the euro stood at 1.3030 usd versus 1.2953 in London late trading yesterday.

ZURICH (AFX) - Share prices closed little changed but off this afternoon's lows helped by Wall Street's early gains, with Richemont hit by disappointing third-quarter sales, dealers said.

At the close, the Swiss Market Index was 3.35 points higher at 9,105.50, and the Swiss Performance Index was down 3.65 points at 7,196.52.

The euro eased against the Swiss franc to 1.6156 sfr, while the dollar dropped to 1.2393 sfr.

Focus today was on Richemont, closing 2.60 sfr or 3.6 pct lower at 70, after the luxury-goods group reported slightly lower-than-expected third-quarter sales growth, prompting Merrill Lynch to downgrade its stance to 'neutral'.

MADRID (AFX) - Share prices closed slightly higher, up from earlier losses lifted by a positive start on Wall Street, with Telefonica underperforming, while Enagas led gains, dealers said.

The IBEX-35 index closed up 8.90 points at 14,368.6, after trading in a range of 14,304-14,394 on volume of 5.3 bln eur.

LISBON (AFX) - Share prices closed slightly lower led by heavyweight Portugal Telecom and by pulp producer Portucel, while fellow paper interest Altri reached a new maximum again, dealers said.

The PSI 20 index closed down 5.93 points or 0.05 pct at 11,496.63, after trading in a range of 11,465-11,548.

BRUSSELS (AFX) - Shares closed lower, with imaging technology group Barco heading the bluechip fallers, analysts said.

At the close, the Bel 20 was down 27.63 points or 0.62 pct at 4,429.38.

MILAN (AFX) - Share prices closed slightly higher, buoyed by the positive start on Wall Street as Fastweb clawed back some of its losses following allegations of tax fraud investigations but still ended sharply lower, dealers said.

The Mibtel index was up 0.05 pct at 32,351 while the S&P/Mib rose 0.25 pct to 42,106.

Volume was an estimated 5.535 bln eur.