Eurofirst and FTSE make strong half-year gains

In Europe on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 0.2 percent to 1,141.39. This close, however, put the index up 9.6 percent for the first half of the year.

The telecommunications sector ended mostly in positive territory. France Telecom gained 1.5 percent to €24.16 after a gain of 5.3 percent on Wednesday. Deutsche Telecom was up 1.4 percent to €15.30, Telecom Italia rose 1.5 percent to €2.5875, and Telia Sonera was up 3 percent to SKr37.30.

KPN, the Netherlands’ biggest telecommunications company, gained 1.5 percent to €6.94 on news that it has proposed a €1.12 billion takeover of its domestic rival, Telfort.

The steel sector was down, however, with Arcelor, Europe’s biggest steel maker, losing 1.4 percent to €16.22, Corus down 1.6 percent, and ThyssenKrupp down 1 percent to €14.39.

In other European equities markets, meanwhile, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax gained 0.06 percent to close at 4,586.28, while in Paris, the CAC 40 fell 0.06 percent to 4,229.35.

In London, the FTSE 100 was up 4.1 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 5,113.4. However, it had been up 30 points only 90 minutes before the close. The FTSE 250 closed at 7,368.7.

Volume was heavy at 3.5 billion shares traded. Both London indexes have grown 6.2 percent since the beginning of the year.

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