London and Tokyo counter New York falls

The London and Japanese financial markets ended the week and began the second quarter on a positive note Friday, while the New York market ended on the decline on Friday.

The successes in London were laid to attempts at takeover of several companies and the news that the majority of companies reporting had either higher than average earnings or met their predicted earnings in their latest reports.

The Japanese markets closed higher even though there was an unexpected drop in an important quarterly survey of business confidence. The rise in the markets there was laid to increases in crude oil prices.

The decline in the New York markets were a result of new concerns over inflation, reports that fewer than expected jobs were created, and the uncertain state of oil prices.

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