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German confidence boosts Europe

European stock markets closed higher on Friday, boosted by a strong signal of business confidence in Germany, the eurozone's biggest economy, and a positive opening on Wall Street.

The London FTSE 100 index added 0.66 percent at 5,531.6 points, the Frankfurt DAX jumped 1.09 percent to 5,353.66 and in Paris the CAC 40 rose 0.67 percent to 4,704.41.

The DJ Euro STOXX 50 index of leading eurozone shares climbed 0.98 percent to 3,556.76.

The euro, meanwhile, rose to US$1.2004.

Germany's IFO business climate index rose to 99.6 this month, its highest reading in five years and ahead of market expectations, which fuelled hopes that the European economic recovery was indeed under way.

"This increase is all the more favorable because it shows a perfect balance between the positive analysis of the current situation, and the optimistic anticipations for the future," said Alexandre Bourgeois, an economist at Natexis Banques Populaires in Paris.

On Wall Street, US stocks were lifted with bullish comments from General Motors and weaker oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 32.70 points at 10,914.10, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ was 1.38 points lower at 2,259.25.

In London, financials provided the main boost for blue chips, with the sector in demand after recent trading updates -- with Northern Rock up 3.35 percent at £9.255, Alliance and Leicester ahead 1.75 percent at £9.59 and HBOS 1.48 percent higher at £9.62.

Fund management group Amvescap topped the leaders board, however, up 3.69 percent at £4.36 after it was upgraded to "overweight" from "equal-weight" by Morgan Stanley.

Elsewhere, shares in Centrica added 2.10 percent at £243.50 after an inline trading update from the gas distributor.

In Frankfurt, index heavyweight E.ON was among the main gainers on the DAX, rising 3.11 percent to 85.30 euros, amid a report RAG is determined to take over the rest of MDAX-listed speciality chemicals company Degussa by acquiring E.ON's 43 percent stake.

Suez was the largest gainer among Paris blue-chips, closing up 3.38 percent at 26.03 euros, after Morgan Stanley resumed coverage with an "overweight" rating and a 30-euro share price target.

French companies with stakes in pay-TV services gained amid unconfirmed reports that Vivendi will take a minority stake in TPS. Lagardere, with an interest in the CanalSatellite unit of Vivendi's Canal Plus, rose 2.71 percent to 64.45 euros, while Vivendi added 1.18 percent at 26.63 euros.

TPS part-owner TF1 rose 0.51 percent to 23.48 euros, while its partner, second liner M6, was 0.81 percent higher at 23.65 euros.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Swiss Market Index climbed 0.44 percent to 7,491.03.

The Amsterdam AEX added 0.95 percent at 436.17, the Brussels BEL-20 advanced 1.49 percent to 3,495.28, the Madrid IBEX-35 took on 0.68 percent at 10,555.3 and the Milan SP/MIB gained 0.76 percent at 35,286.0.

Earlier in Asia, the NIKKEI-225 index in Tokyo lost 0.53 percent at 15,173.07 points in the third successive fall, as a firmer yen led to a further dumping of exporter shares, dealers said.
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