Eurofirst 300 ends week at six-year high

On Wall Street, early afternoon found the main indices up just slightly after having been mixed earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up just 0.09 percent to 13,253.4, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.19 percent higher to 2,570.3 and the S&P 500 had added 0.16 percent to 1,504.75. Bids news drove the markets in New York. The big news of the day was talk of a merger between Microsoft (NAS: MSFT) and Yahoo (NAS: YHOO). Other news relating to rejected deals and bid approaches came from various media companies, which generally saw gains on the rumors.

The Australian equities markets hit new records for the third day in a row on Friday. The S&P/ASX 200 closed out the week and the session at 6,304.9, while the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.95 percent to 6,296.2. The Asian, meanwhile, were mixed on the day. The Sensex dropped 1.02 percent to 13,934.27 in India, but in Singapore the Straits Times index gained 0.69 percent to 3,485.76 and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was 0.77 percent higher to 20,841.08. The Tokyo markets remained closed due to holidays.

Equities markets in Europe were higher on the session, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 ending the week at a six year high as it gained 0.65 percent to 1,592.49. In Frankfurt, the Xetra Dax closed at 7,516.76, up by 0.54 percent to 7,516.76, while the Paris CAC-40 was 1.08 percent higher to 6,068.83. The automobile manufacturing sector saw gains, while there were losses within the chemicals sector.

In London, the FTSE 100 added 1.01 percent to 6,603.7, while the FTSE 250 gained 1.37 percent to 12,210.8. Gains came in the mining sector after a broker report that private equity could be interested in bidding within the sector. The banking sector saw losses on the session.

Story link: Eurofirst 300 ends week at six-year high