Stock markets buoyant as oil prices cool

LONDON (AFP) - European stock markets bounced higher in the wake of a strong overnight showing on Wall Street as oil prices closed lower in New York for the first time in nearly a fortnight.
The London FTSE 100 index gained 0.21 percent to 4,597.60 points, the Frankfurt DAX rose 0.57 percent to 3,942.59 points and the Paris CAC 40 climbed 0.52 percent to 3,701.97.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares advanced 0.57 percent to 2,762.14 points.
The euro stood at 1.2346 dollars.
On Wall Street, stocks pushed higher for a second straight day Wednesday as sentiment got a boost from lower oil prices and a better-than-expected reading on US economic growth, dealers said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.58 percent to 10,136.24 points and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.29 percent to 1,893.94.
The broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index advanced 0.43 percent to close at 1,114.80 points.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of light sweet crude for November delivery dropped 39 cents to 49.51 dollars a barrel on Wednesday as supply fears eased slightly amid peace talks between government officials and rebels in major producer Nigeria and following a rise in US crude inventories.
Oil prices retreated further Thursday from above a record-breaking 50 dollars in New York at the start of the week.
In London, British mobile telephone operator mmO2 jumped 2.09 percent to 97.75 pence after the group raised its full-year revenue growth guidance for its core UK business, dealers said.
In a trading update, mmO2 said it now expected UK net service revenue growth of between 9.0 and 12 percent in the 12 months to the end of March 2005, compared to its previous forecast of 7.0 to 10 percent.
Meanwhile Cable and Wireless climbed 1.55 percent to 98.25 pence after a report said the British telecommunications group was in talks to quit Japan by selling its money-losing Japanese unit to Softbank or an investment firm in Tokyo.
In Paris French hotel chain Accor was out in front, winning 2.63 percent to 31.98 euros on bargain-hunting, dealers said.
In Frankfurt dealers delighted in news that TUI, Europe's leading tourism and travel group, plans to cut eight percent of its workforce in Britain by the end of the year in order to boost efficiency.
The price of shares in TUI rose 1.61 percent to 15.19 euros.
In Asia, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed up 0.35 percent at 10,823.57 points on Thursday, the first gain in 10 trading days, as investors cheered a pullback in oil prices, dealers said.
Hong Kong's key Hang Seng Index jumped 1.31 percent to 13,120.03 points as investors returned to their desks after a one-day public holiday.