Banks, IT spur Asia

GLOBAL MARKETS

The yen traded near a record low against the euro as policy meeting minutes indicated the Bank of Japan plans to keep interest rates unchanged in coming months. Benchmarks fell in Australia, Hong Kong, India and Sri Lanka, while New Zealand's was little changed. Elsewhere in the region they rose, with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average adding 0.7 per cent to 17,680.05 and indexes in China, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea reaching new highs.

Europe

European stocks rose, led by Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA, the region's largest phone companies. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.1 per cent to 393.86 as of 10:59 am in London. The Stoxx 50 was little changed, while the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the 13 nations sharing the euro, advanced 0.2 per cent.

National benchmarks gained in 11 of 18 western European markets that were open. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1 per cent, and France's CAC 40 rose 0.1 per cent. Germany's DAX climbed 0.4 per cent. Shares of Deutsche Telekom rose 2.5 per cent to 12.94 euros. France Telecom increased 1.5 per cent to 22.13 euros.

US

US stock-index futures increased as investors speculated mergers and acquisitions will keep driving equity prices higher. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in June added 1.5 to 1529.40 as of 10:39am in London.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 7 to 13,578. Nasdaq-100 Index futures rose 2.25 to 1918.50.

More than $40 billion of takeovers extended the US stock market's seven-week rally yesterday, and investors see few signs that mergers and acquisitions will stop given the availability of funds.