European stocks bank strong gains

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — Europe's main stock markets rallied on Thursday, with German financier Hypo Real Estate surging nearly 15 percent, despite further weakness on Wall Street overnight, dealers said.

In London the FTSE 100 index of top shares jumped by 1.08 percent to 5,721.80 points in late morning trading.

The Frankfurt DAX 30 index advanced by 1.33 percent to 6,575.73 and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.73 percent to 4,710.86 near the half-way stage.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares advanced by 1.16 percent to 3,653.17 points. The European single currency slid to 1.5819 dollars.

Wall Street shares had shown fresh losses on Wednesday as a double dose of lacklustre economic news on the housing market and the factory sector dampened investor...