Reply #28: European stocks hover at 6-1/2-yr highs, ICI leaps [View All]

http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20070618:MTFH44147_2007-06-18_11-16-33_L18497010&type=comktNews&rpc=44

LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - European shares traded flat on Monday, hovering around their highest level in 6-1/2 years, as a rally in chemical stocks lent support to the market after ICI (ICI.L: Quote, Profile , Research) shunned a takeover bid.

Among major movers, Invensys (ISYS.L: Quote, Profile , Research) jumped on market talk Siemens (SIEGn.DE: Quote, Profile , Research) could make a bid, while Adecco (ADEN.VX: Quote, Profile , Research) gained after saying it would buy Germany's Tuja group.

"A lot of investors are looking for defensive but steady returns, and this is very tricky in an environment of higher interest rates," said Andreas Kampe, fund manager at Bayern Invest in Munich.

"This is the recipe for the wall of doubt we are softly crawling up. Investors are really cautious but caution doesn't give you any yield, so it's a real conundrum."

At 1057 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was down 0.1 percent at 1,623.5 points, after earlier hitting 1,630.69, its highest since Nov. 17, 2000.

The FTSEurofirst 300 rose 3.7 percent last week, as interest rate fears eased, after rising bond yields had driven a similar-sized fall in equities the previous week by drawing investors towards fixed income.

France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> fell 0.1 percent while Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> rose 0.4 percent and Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE slipped 0.1 percent. Continued...

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