US Markets - Wall Street ended the week on a high note on Friday with technology stocks leading the charge after some strong results from Research In Motion cheered the market.

The banking sector rallied on reports that Merrill Lynch is seeking a multi-billion-Dollar capital injection and financials appeared untroubled by reports that plans for a “superfund” to bail out troubled structured investment vehicles were being dropped for lack of demand.

Energy and materials were the pick of the S&P’s leading sectors as commodity prices surged and retailers rebounded after the Commerce Department revealed a sharp rise in consumer spending.

The S&P 500 closed up 1.7% at 1,484.46 on Friday for an increase of 1.1% this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8% on the week to 13,450.65 while the Nasdaq Composite fared better, gaining 2.1% to 2,691.99 over the period. The Russell 2000 small cap index climbed 4.2% to 785.60 this week, helped by an increase in deal-making.

The New York Stock Exchange set a volume record in the first hour on Friday as traders settled positions before the holidays and as several types of derivative contracts expired – a quarterly event known as “quadruple witching”. However, volatility as measured by the CBOE Vix index – Wall Street’s so-called “fear barometer” – fell to its lowest level since the end of October, down 19.7% for the week at 18.68.

Research In Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry e-mail device, capped a good week for technology after it said third-quarter net in-come more than doubled to $370.5m and revenues soared. The company’s up-beat fourth-quarter guidance exceeded analysts’ estimates and the shares jumped 11.9% on the week to $118.63. UBS raised its price target to $155.

RIM’s stellar results came in the same week that Oracle increased second-quarter profit by 35%, helped by strong software licence sales. Its shares rose 7.1% to $22.71 this week.

Adobe Systems, the software company, beat estimates with a 21% rise in fourth-quarter profits and the shares edged up 0.2% to $42.18.

Financials had a mixed week as investors were forced to weigh up whether to avoid the sector because of more mortage-related losses or buy into the stocks because of the prospect of big capital infusions from abroad.

Reports that Merrill Lynch is in talks with Temasek, Singapore’s state investment agency, about a potential multi-billion-Dollar investment moved the shares higher on Friday.

Like many US banks, Merrill could benefit from a boost to its capital reserves after it took $8.4bn in writedowns in October. The shares fell 2.3% on the week to $55.54 after an analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton forecast Merrill would take another $8.6bn in writedowns this quarter.

Morgan Stanley this week tapped China Investment Corp for $5bn as it an-nounced a total of $9.4bn in writedowns for the fourth quarter and posted the first loss in its history. The shares ended the week up 8.1% at $54.37.

Bear Stearns, which in October took a $1bn investment from China’s Citic Securities, fell to its first loss this week, after it wrote down $1.9bn for the quarter. The shares fell 5.6% to $89.95 on the week.

Investors were rocked by the threat of credit downgrades on monoline bond insurers.

A downgrade of bond insurers could seriously affect world credit markets, triggering sharp losses on insured securities.

MBIA, fell 27.4% to $20.03 this week after it revealed $30.6n in exposure to complex debt securities. Fitch Ratings warned it could cut MBIA’s triple-A rating unless it raised $1bn in capital.

Fitch issued the same warning to Ambac Financial on Friday after identifying $32.2bn in exposure to collateralised debt obligations backed by subprime collateral.

However, Ambac’s shares rose 16.9% to $26.66 on the week after Moody’s affirmed its triple-A rating. Go figure that one out!

Transport stocks were disappointing after FedEx, the logistics company, and Union Pacific, rail operator, issued weak earnings guidance, citing rising fuel costs. The shares fell 1.7% to $94.29 and 3.5% to $126.02 respectively.

European Markets - European equity indices slid over the week as jitters about the health of the credit markets weighed on financial stocks and spilled into the construction sector, where fears about financing began to bite.

A seasonal rally as options positions expired on the final full trading day before Christmas failed to lift the FTSE Eurofirst 300 over the week. The index slipped 2% to 1,507.08.

The index is down 7.6% since its summer high before the start of the credit squeeze and has risen a meagre 1.6% since the beginning of the year. It is on track to make its smallest gain since 2002.

Let's look at the numbers this week in Europe in the order that markets closed.  So that means starting in Athens where Greek shares closed higher, supported by a strong opening on Wall Street and the positive performance of European bourses, with the blue chip index led up by Bank of Piraeus and Marfin Popular Bank (MPB).

Both the ASE general index and the blue chip index grew 1% to 5,109.8 and 2,724.9 respectively. Mid caps posted a 0.5% increase to 6,146.9 while small caps edged 0.4% higher to 1,040.1.

Advancers outnumbered decliners by 125 to 114, while 83 were unchanged in above average trade of 459 mln Eur.

Marfin Popular Bank (MPB) rose 3.4% to 9.06 Eur after it said it agreed to acquire a 50.04% stake of Russian Rosprombank for 83 mln Eur.

Betting technology Intralot fell 2% to 13.24 Eur. Sources told Thomson Financial News that it has submitted the best bid for the state of South Carolina, USA's online lottery tender.

Electricity utility Public Power Corp (PPC) grew 0.9% to 35.4 Eur after dropping 2.6% in trade yesterday following its announcement that it will postpone its discussion of a memorandum of understanding between itself and German RWE until its board of director's meeting in Jan 2008.

Titan Cement slid 0.4% to 30.3 Eur. It said that its chief financial officer Howard Prince-Wright will be leaving the company.

Construction company J&P Avax lost 1.2% to 6.52 Eur. Late in the day, it announced that its consortium with Athena Technical has signed a 12.6 mln Eur deal with the Cyprus Port Authority.

Up to Norway now where Oslo Shares closed sharply higher, rebounding from recent lows on the expectation of a strong opening on Wall Street, with Fast Search & Transfer leading the Oslo Bors risers on the prospect of shareholder activism reviving the embattled firm's fortunes.

The OSEBX Benchmark index closed up 2.30% at 480.77, while the OSEAX All Share index gained 2.13% to finish at 556.20.

Total turnover was 9.46 bln NKr.

Having suffered from a string of weaker closes all week, the Oslo Bors ended its last trading day before Christmas on a positive note, cheered on by positive news abroad and encouraging signs at home.

Dealers in Oslo said the Baltic Dry Index fell 1.7% Friday, having fallen 2.1% Thursday, but pointed out that rates were still not far off record highs.

Golden Ocean finished 5.75% higher at 33.10 NKr, while Hong Kong-based Jinhui rose 4.48% to 58.25.

Elsewhere in the shipping sector, tanker rates continued to ease from recent highs, pulling down Frontline, which fell 0.57% to 260 NKr, and Stolt-Nielsen, which recovered from early falls to finish up 1.32% at 153.

Car transportation firm Wilhelm Wilhelmsen, meanwhile, ended 1.75% stronger at 204 NKr.

Other Norwegian large caps also benefited from the overall positive sentiment, Yara gaining 5.96% to 244.50 NKr, Orkla rising 5.70% to 102, and Norsk Hydro gaining 2.93% to 77.20.

Oil prices steadied at lower levels on relatively thin volumes ahead of the year end, and as traders weighed concerns over falling US supplies against an increasingly bleak US economic outlook.

The easing of oil prices meant Norway's main oil firms underperformed the overall index, with StatoilHydro rising 1.88% to 162.90 NKr, PA Resources gaining 0.71% to 42.30, and Revus falling 1.23% to 80.

DNO, however, rose 2.46% to 10 NKr after it announced its average daily oil production rose to 17,273 barrels per day during November, up from 14,243 bpd the previous month, on increased output from its Tawke field in northern Iraq.

In the oil services sector, Aker Kvaerner finished 0.35% lower at 143, and Acergy rose 3.13% to 115.50.

Other notable gainers today included Norwegian Air Shuttle, which rose 4.82% to 163 NKr after announcing a 1 bln NKr deal with the Norwegian Department of Defence to carry military personnel.

Telenor rose 1.17% to 129.25 NKr. Russian telecoms group Vimpelcom (NYSE:VIP) said its board of directors has approved the acquisition of Russian fixed-line operator Golden Telecom (NASDAQ:GLDN) at a price of 105 usd per share.

Telenor has a 29.9% stake in Vimpelcom.

Elsewhere, Seadrill rose 4.51% to 127.50 NKr. Earlier this morning Aker Capital, the financial investments arm of Aker, said it has launched a mandatory offer for all remaining shares in Aker Drilling at 39 NKr per share, below the 40.50 NKr bid already on the table from Seadrill.

Aker, which has a 44.97% stake in Aker Drilling, closed 0.90% weaker at 332 NKr, while Aker Drilling itself eased 0.69% to finish at 43.

In the financials, insurer Storebrand rose 0.70% to 57.70 NKr having completed its acquisition of SPP, while bank DnB NOR fell 0.48% to 83.50.

Amongst other large caps, Norske Skog continued its volatile run, closing 5.26% higher at 46 NKr.

In Sweden, Stockholm Shares closed sharply higher as Ericsson led across the board gains, with investors buying back into the index on bargain hunting following recent losses and a strong start on Wall Street ahead of the Christmas break.

The OMX Stockholm index closed up 1.77% at 350.66 points, while the OMX Stockholm 30 index closed 1.79% higher at 1.078.93. Turnover was relatively light at 16.921 bln SKr.

In total on the market 212 shares closed higher, 32 unchanged and 64 lower.

Ericsson B closed up 3.85% at 15.36 SKr, ending its recent losing streak in style as investors bought back into the stock on valuation grounds. Ericsson has lost over 40% of its value in the last quarter making it the biggest blue chip loser on the index.

The telecom operators closed mixed with TeliaSonera closing up 0.85% at 59.00, and Tele2 B down 0.39% at 128.50.

Engineering stocks all closed higher.

Sandvik gained 2.09% to close at 110.00. The company said its Materials Technology division has acquired a US plant specialising in the manufacture of medical instruments for treating spinal injuries from US company Medtronic Inc.

The purchase sum was not disclosed.

Atlas Copco A closed up 2.13% at 95.75, and SKF B up 1.15% at 110.25.

Among the truckers Volvo B closed up 3.53% at 110.00 and Scania B gained 2.98% to close at 155.50.

Skanska B closed up 1.90% at 120.75. The company said it has won a 305 mln SKr order from Finnish real-estate company Citycon Oyj to continue modernising and expanding a shopping centre in the Estonian capital of Tallinn.

The contract will be included in Skanska's fourth-quarter order bookings.

Banking stocks all closed higher led by Nordea, up 2.38% at 107.50.

Gant closed up 2.29% at 313.00. Maus Freres SA which has an 310 SKr per share offer on Gant said it has increased its holding in the company 18.1%.

Elsewhere in the market, Hennes & Mauritz B closed down 0.38% at 390.00, Boliden up 1.89% at 80.75, Electrolux B up 1.97% at 103.75, and SSAB A up 2.96% at 174.00.

Neighbours Denmark saw Copenhagen Shares close higher in line with international markets as index heavyweight AP Moller Maersk AS led a rally amid the slightly improved sentiment over the international economic outlook for 2008.

The OMXC20 index closed up 4.60 points at 464.48 and the OMXCB Benchmark index gained 3.53 points to close at 447.28.

AP Moller Maersk AS closed up 2,000 DKr at 55,400, extending its gains from yesterday.

Vestas Wind Systems AS closed up 3.00 DKr at 519.00 after the company said it has won an order for 242 units of its V82-1.65 MW wind turbine from the US's Horizon Wind Energy.

The order value was not disclosed.

The turbines will have a total capacity of 400 MW when installation is complete in 2009.

Vestas also said it has won an order for 55 wind turbines from US-based Duke Energy.

H.Lundbeck bucked the positive market and closed down 4.75 at 139.25 after being cut to 'Reduce' from 'Hold' by Danske Bank.

Danisco AS closed up 1.00 DKr at 365.00. Goldman Sachs cut its target price for the sugar and ingredients producer marginally to 402 DKr from 407 DKr, RB Boersen said.

Novozymes AS shed 7.00 DKr to close at 586.00. RB Boersen said, citing Ethanol Producer Magazine, that the group is searching a location for a new enzyme factory in the US Midwest.

Trygvesta AS shed 2.50 DKr to close at 390.00. According to RB Boersen news agency, Morgan Stanley raised its target price for the insurer to 419 DKr from 404 DKr.

Lifecycle Pharma AS closed down 0.30 DKr at 35.70. The group said it has signed an agreement with a 'top 10' pharmaceutical company, which will use its MeltDose technology to conduct a study of a drug candidate.

Elsewhere D/S Norden closed up 15.00 at 560.00, FLSmidth up 5.00 at 505.00, and Novozymes B down 7.00 at 586.00.

Into Finland now where Helsinki shares closed firmer led by Nokia, while OKO Bank fell after it lowered its full-year pretax profit estimate and Huhtamaki lost ground after saying it will book a 103 mln Eur loss in the fourth quarter.

The OMX Helsinki 25 ended up 2.17% at 2,995.42 and the OMX Helsinki all-share index closed 2.59% higher at 11,619.20 with volume amounting to 1.753 bln Eur.

Nokia finished 4.01% higher at 27.00 Eur.

Among industrials, Metso gained 4.55% to 37.25 Eur after broker Cheuvreux upgraded the engineering group to its 'selected list' from a previous 'outperform' rating, saying it is 'very well placed' to benefit from rising capital expenditure in the oil and mining sectors in 2008.

The broker also set a 55 Eur price target.

In other news, Metso said its Paper unit has won a 23 mln Eur contract to supply Russia's Mondi with a rebuilt white liquor plant for its Syktyvkar mill.

Wartsila B added 1.13% to 51.91 Eur after it said it won three gas-fuelled power plants contract from Bangladesh's Summit Group, but gave no financial details.

Outotec closed up 4.67% at 37.90 Eur after it said it won a 30 mln Eur contract from Centenario Copper Chile S.C.M. for the delivery of a copper solvent extraction and electrowinning plant.

Of the industrial fallers, Huhtamaki was down 2.35% at 7.91 Eur after the packaging group said it will book non-cash goodwill and tangible asset impairment losses of 103 mln Eur in the fourth quarter.

In a statement published this morning, Huhtamaki also indicated that the 2007 full-year operating result will be around the level of last year's, or around 138.1 mln Eur.

In banking, OKO Bank was down 1.85% at 13.29 Eur after it said it has lowered its 2007 full-year pretax profit estimate at fair value, due to market developments during the last two months of the year.

Previously, OKO Bank announced, in conjunction with its third-quarter report, that it expected to improve full-year pretax profit at fair value by at least 10%.

In other news, OKO said it will buy Kesko's financing services unit K-Rahoitus to OKO Bank for about 30 mln Eur.

Kesko B shares closed 1.39% higher at 37.68 Eur.

Of the forestries, Stora Enso R closed 1.00% firmer at 10.10 Eur.

The paper group said it will book a 37 mln Eur loss in the fourth quarter from transferring its North American paper operations to NewPage.

Sector peer UPM-Kymmene ended up 1.64% at 13.65 Eur.

Kemira finished up 1.46% at 14.56 Eur.

The chemical group said it is selling its 50% stake in the Japanese hydrogen peroxide joint venture Kemira-Ube Ltd to the other partner, Japan's Ube Industries Ltd, to focus on its Japanese pulp and paper chemicals customers.

Kemira-Ube's sales amounted to 20 mln Eur, Kemira added, without disclosing the value of the deal.

YIT ended 2.39% higher at 15.42 Eur.

The construction group said it has sold its Viinikkala logistics centre to a property investment fund of Tapiola, the financial services group, for around 48 mln Eur, the two companies said in a statement.

Elsewhere, Elcoteq closed 3.04% lower at 4.15 Eur.

Down to Spain now where Madrid Share prices closed higher on the last trading day before the three day Christmas holiday next week, on moderate volumes driven by December's futures expiry, with heavyweights leading, while broadcasters Antena 3 and Telecinco were down.

The IBEX-35 ended up 149.10 points at 15,289.30, after trading in a range of 15,233-15,348.

Heavyweights were higher, with Telefonica up 0.46 Eur or 2.08% at 22.54, Santander gaining 0.27 to 14.72 and BBVA advancing 0.12 to 16.71.

Share trading in heavyweight peer Repsol YPF remained suspended to the close. The last trade was at 1.30 pm, down 0.21 at 23.88.

Antena 3 fell 0.14 to 10.56 and Telecinco slipped 0.16 to 17.71.

Media peer Prisa put on 0.73 or 5.95% to 13.00, extending yesterday's gains after announcing that it will buy out the minority share in Sogecable, up 0.05 at 27.50.

Constructors rallied, with Sacyr climbing 1.69 or 6.44% to 27.95, Acciona up 6.00 or 2.81% at 219.85 and Ferrovial gaining 0.80 to 50.85.

Cintra rose 0.34 or 3.26% to 10.77, after Ferrovial raised its stake to 65% from 62%.

Amongst small caps, Solaria rose 0.56 or 2.73% to 21.09, after US firm JA Solar Holdings said it has signed a sales agreement with the Spanish company to provide up to 60MW of solar cells in 2008.

Up to Austria now where in Vienna Shares closed higher, led up by strong blue chip buying, as European and US markets rallied today driven by technology sector shares and financials.

The ATX was up 1.20% or 53.31 points at 4,477.11. The ATX Prime was 1.46% or 30.26 points higher at 2,102.66.

In line with gains across European banking stocks, Erste Bank and Raiffeisen International closed up 1.59% at 48 Eur and 2.73% at 104.55 Eur respectively.

News that another sovereign fund is set to come to the rescue of Merrill Lynch buoyed banking shares around the world.

Engineering group Andritz added 6.04% to 40.70 Eur, higher pulled higher on a ratings upgrade for its main competitor Metso and recent substantial orders awarded to its units in India and Australia.

OMV gained for the third day, tracking the upward movement on fellow oil stocks as the price of crude continues to climb. It last dealt at 53.94, up 0.37% on the day.

Also closing higher thanks to strength in the price of crude oil, drilling equipment company Schoeller Bleckmann Oilfield climbed 1.29% to 60.48 Eur.

Stocks related to the construction industry rose as fears of a global slowdown eased across world markets today. Road builder Strabag was up 2.96 pt at 49.42 Eur at the close, while bricks and roofing tiles giant Wienerberger added 4.78% to 39 Eur.

Shares in Intercell ended 1.52% higher at 26.71 Eur. Today, Erste Bank said in its Equity Weekly review it expected further positive newsflow and 'impulses' for performance and reiterated its 'buy' rating on the vaccine company as it remains its favourite biotech company.

Stronger copper and metals prices lent some strength to A-Tec Industries which last traded up 2.75% at 91.45 Eur.

Verbund led the losers in terms of%age and closed down 3.81% at 48 Eur on profit-taking. The hydropower producer recently gained on the back of high forwards prices in the wholesale electricity and oil.

Tending lower on oil, shares in Austrian Airlines retreated 0.99% to 6.01 Eur.

Elsewhere on the ATX Prime, property shares were the focus of trade after several broker comments were published today.

CA Immo closed up 5.94% at 14.62 Eur after UniCredit maintained its 'buy' rating on the real estate investment company but reduced the target price to 20.7 Eur from 26.

Immoeast gained 5.37% to 7.06 Eur after analysts at Morgan Stanley kept it at 'underweight', while analysts at Kempen confirmed their 'add' rating.

German shares closed higher after early gains on Wall Street and as investors earlier repositioned ahead of today's 'triple-witching' expiration of options and futures contracts.

Traders said the market was also reacting ahead of Deutsche Boerse's release of revised weightings for the DAX after today's close of trade.

The DAX closed 133.48 points or 1.70% higher at 8,022.67 points after trading between 7,913.38 and 8,015.42 today.

The MDAX gained 117.88 points or 1.22% to 9,741.14 points, while the TecDAX was 17.41 points or 1.82% higher at 972.04 points.

DAX futures advanced 105.50 points, or 1.34%, to 8,000.00, while bund futures declined 0.42, or 0.37%, to 113.06.

On triple witching day, the third Friday in March, June, September and December, stock and indices can show strong ebbs and flows due to massive trades as investors, hedge strategists and arbitragEurs attempt to close their positions.

In addition, some stocks saw support through revised weightings for the DAX, which Deutsche Boerse will make official after the close of trade this evening. The re-weightings will take effect on Dec 27.

According to traders, shares in Hypo Real Estate and Continental should see the biggest gains through the new weightings, while the standard cap of 10% for index constituents will likely hurt E.ON and Siemens the most.

On the Frankfurt trading floor, shares in BMW were 2.11 Eur or 5.22% higher at 42.52 Eur, as the index's top gainer, after the automaker said it plans to cut 'several thousand' jobs in 2008, primarily in production.

Deutsche Postbank climbed 2.40 Eur or 4.10% to 60.92 Eur, benefiting from increased demand for German financial stocks. Traders attributed heightened demand to a media report that said Merrill Lynch may soon receive up to 5 bln usd to help it brace for possible heavy subprime-related writedowns in the fourth quarter.

Peer Hypo Real Estate added 0.08 Eur or 0.22% to 36.53 Eur, Deutsche Bank was 0.72 Eur or 0.83% higher at 87.87 Eur, while Commerzbank saw a 0.07 Eur or 0.27% gain to 25.99 Eur.

Allianz was up 4.43 Eur or 3.12% at 146.43 Eur after the insurance giant said it sold a number of German commercial properties for some 1.7 bln Eur, which analysts said should moderately raise 2008 earnings per share levels.

Continental shares added 1.80 Eur or 2.07% to 88.73 Eur as the stock should, along with Hypo Real Estate, see the greatest benefit from new index weightings, according to traders.

Siemens gained 3.87 Eur or 3.69% to 108.75 Eur as dealers pointed to several positive factors boosting the stock including a number of investors repositioning ahead of today's expiration of options and futures contracts and as an older positive broker note from UBS continued to offer support.

On the other end of the index, TUI lost 0.24 Eur or 1.28% to 18.45 Eur as the sharpest of four decliners.

Merck KGaA shares were down 0.68 Eur or 0.76% at 89.04 Eur and Deutsche Telekom declined 0.01 Eur or 0.07% to 15.01 Eur. MAN slid 0.24 Eur or 0.22% to 109.99 Eur.

Over on the MDAX, K&S rose 11.87 Eur or 7.91% to 161.87 Eur as the index's best performer.

Shares in MLP lifted 0.38 Eur or 3.68% to 10.72 Eur, fuelled by vague takeover speculation after a report in Financial Times Deutschland said that Deutsche Postbank was earlier this year considering buying MLP's financial services peer AWD Holdings AG.

MTU Aero Engines advanced 1.13 Eur or 2.96% to 39.32 Eur after UBS upgraded its stance to 'buy' from 'neutral' saying the shares trade at an unjustified discount to its aerospace and defence peers.

At the other end of the MDAX, Premiere lost 0.56 Eur or 4.29% to 12.48 Eur.

TecDAX-listed Kontron was the best performer among tech stocks, charging 1.26 Eur or 9.94% higher to 13.94 Eur.

Conergy, meanwhile, added 1.80 Eur or 8.02% to 24.24 Eur after Goldman Sachs added the stock to its 'Pan-Europe Buy List'.

ADVA, meanwhile, lost 0.39 Eur or 8.65% to 4.12 Eur as the index's worst performer.

Into Switzerland now and in Zurich Swiss shares closed higher in quiet trading ahead of next week's Christmas holidays, supported by a Wall Street rally.

At the close, the Swiss Market Index was up 65.53 points at 8,468.37, while the Swiss Performance Index was 52.42 points higher at 6,900.22.

The Euro gained to 1.6615 sfr against the Swiss franc, while the Dollar weakened to 1.1567 sfr.

Leading the index was Syngenta, closing 14.5 sfr or 5.3% higher at 289.50.

ABB, was up 1.04 sfr or 3.4% at 32.00.

Heavyweight Nestle also helped to hold up the index, gaining 4.00 sfr to 519.50.

Luxury goods producers continued a good run. Swatch was up 4 sfr or 1.2% at 337, while Richemont added 0.90 sfr or 1.2% to reach 76.60.

Banks were mixed, with Julius Baer the best performer, up 2.25 sfr or 2.4% at 94.50.

Credit Suisse climbed 0.80 or 1.2% to 68.20, while UBS fell 0.45 sfr to 51.58.

Pharma heavyweights were also mixed. Novartis inched 0.05 sfr higher to 62.55 sfr, while Roche was down 0.90 sfr at 195.50. Home Diagnostics Inc said late Thursday it had reached a settlement with Roche regarding a patent infringement suit filed in Feb 2004.

Insurers were also mixed.

Swiss Life gained 0.25 sfr to 283.25, but Baloise inched down 0.30 sfr to close lower at 111.00.

Zurich Financial did best in the sector, ending the week up 5 sfr or 1.5% at 333.

In Portugal, Lisbon Shares closed sharply higher, in line with positive sentiment in major European markets, boosted by sharp gains in Galp and Jeronimo Martins, while conglomerate Sonae and cement maker Cimpor were also strong.

The PSI 20 index closed up 133.08 points or 1.03% at 13,069.87 after trading in a range of 12,969-13,097 on a volume of around 311 mln Eur.

Equities opened higher and stayed in the black, trading in a tight range, after gains on Wall Street and positive Asian markets.

In the afternoon, shares declined gradually but remained in the black, then recovered in a late rally which took the index to close near session highs.

Jeronimo Martins climbed 0.17 Eur or 3.22% to 5.45, but off a high of 5.62, as analysts and traders cheered the acquisition of Tengelmann's Plus retail operations in Portugal and Poland for about 320 mln Eur.

Galp surged 0.73 Eur or 4.33% to 17.60, adding to about 20% gains over the last month, after the Portuguese oil and gas group said that a consortium in which it holds a 20% stake and Petrobras 80% has announced a new oil discovery in Brazil's Santos Basin.

ESR analysts said that Galp is expected to be supported by the news, although the amount of recoverable oil is still unknown.

BPI analysts echoed the view, adding that the announcement confirms the good prospects of a region where Galp has significant exposure.

EDP added 0.02 to 4.49, recovering late from a low of 4.41, while REN declined 0.01 to 3.68.

PT Multimedia fell 0.04 to 9.38, retreating from earlier sharp gains. PTM has been reinitiated at Caixa BI with a 'buy' recommendation and a 11.05 Eur target, with the broker saying that the company could be one of the winners in the domestic telecoms sector in 2008.

Also in the telecoms sector, blue chip PT edged up 0.01 to 9.10, while Sonaecom shed 0.02 to 3.55.

BCP lost 0.01 to 2.94. Earlier, BCP said Angolan state-owned oil company Sonangol and Angola-based Banco Privado Atlantico will acquire 49.99% of BCP's Banco Millennium Angola.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Portugal declined to confirm press reports that governor Vitor Constancio has asked major BCP shareholders to attend a meeting later today, to update them on probes into alleged loan irregularities.

Among other banks, BPI added 0.08 to 5.45, and BES climbed 0.05 to 15.30.

Conglomerate Sonae was up 0.04 or 2.11% at 1.94, recovering from sharp losses yesterday. In the same group, Sonae Industria rose 0.07 to 6.78.

Cimpor was among the session's main gainers, up 0.13 or 2.16% at 6.15.

Down to Italy now (we are really hopping around this week, as I say, in time with markets closing) where Milan Share prices closed higher boosted by an upbeat start on Wall Street, though Alitalia fell ahead of tonight's decision on a partner for exclusive talks for a tie-up.

The Mibtel index rose 0.82% to 29,095 points and the S&P/Mib was up 0.83% at 38,182.

Volume traded was an estimated 4.316 bln Eur.

Alitalia fell 2.14% to 0.76 Eur as the board meeting called to choose a partner continues, with a statement expected later. The two main rivals are Air France-KLM and AP Holding. The operator that Alitalia chooses will then enter exclusive talks with the government with a final decision expected before Jan 15. Yesterday, transport minister Alessandro Bianchi said both bidders could be admitted to the final phase of the sale process.

Terna fell 1.17% to 2.74 Eur and Bulgari fell 1.15% to 9.49 after yesterday's positive performances.

The biggest gainer of the day was Saipem, up 3.78% at 27.18 Eur. The stock extended yesterday's gains boosted by news it has won drilling contracts worth 1.25 bln usd.

Construction stocks performed well in step with the European sector with Impregilo up 3.06% at 4.49 Eur and Buzzi up 1.44% at 18.51.

BPM rose 2.83% to 9.31 Eur rebounding from recent losses. Yesterday the chairman of Credit Mutuel said alliance talks with BPM are ongoing while another possible partner is Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna.

Fiat was up 2.50% at 17.37 Eur boosted by a firm European sector performance.

Finmeccanica rose 1.94% to 22.06 Eur after it said its SELEX Sistemi Integrati unit has signed a contract worth 52 mln Eur with an Indian company.

Eni retraced some of its earlier gains to close up 0.12% at 24.69 Eur after it said the consortium it leads developing the Kashagan oil field has signed a new memorandum of understanding defining the terms of a settlement for its dispute with the Kazakh government over cost overruns and delays at Kashagan.

It also said the consortium and the Kazakh government are going to continue discussions with the aim of finalising the agreement early 2008. Reports said Kazakhstan could ask for a greater stake in the consortium plus cash compensation.

Lottomatica rose 0.68% to 25.00 Eur as market watchdog Consob said De Agostini has raised its controlling stake to 55.3% from 52.5%. Earlier Lottomatica said it has obtained approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission to buy a stake in Atronic International and Atronic Americas.

To The Netherlands now where Shares in Amsterdam closed near highs, buoyed by an optimistic Wall Street and increasing investor confidence, Amsterdam-based traders said.

The AEX closed up 6.92 points or 1.37% at 513.71, after opening at 512.03 and reaching a late afternoon high of 514.80.

Staffing company Randstad led gainers, rising 6.78% to 26.76 Eur and Vedior lifted 3.34% to 17.31, on bargain hunting following recent sharp losses, the trader said.

Among food and drink related issues, Unilever went 4.26% higher to 25.20, Heineken added 0.54% at 44.45 and Ahold was up 0.84% to 9.58.

Unibail-Rodamco was up 3.54% to 149.50 Eur after the company announced the acquisition of part of a large shopping mall in Vienna.

ArcelorMittal added 3.43% to 51.20 Eur on news the Argentinian market regulator cleared the company's buyout of Acindar minorities.

Financials were in the fore following news that Merrill Lynch could receive a capital injection worth up to 5 bln usd from Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings. Fortis put on 1.69% to 18.01, Aegon strengthened 1.44% to 11.94 and ING added 1.19% at 26.45.

KPN went 1.46% higher to 12.50 Eur, still buoyed by news late yesterday the telecom sold its Getronics Spain and Portugal units.

Akzo Nobel closed up 1.18% to 53.25 after the company said it has finalised its restructuring plans ahead of the ICI acquisition completion on January 2.

SBM Offshore advanced 0.86% to 21.05 and Royal Dutch Shell lifted 0.80% to 28.90 as oil prices edged further above 91 usd, with international traders saying the strength in global stock markets has helped ease demand worries and allowed traders to reassess concerns over falling stockpiles and tight OPEC output.

Hagemeyer edged up 0.21% to 4.67 Eur after Rexel said it will formally launch its takeover bid for the Dutch company on Christmas eve. SNS Securities said the offer memorandum, available today, indicates the deal will close on March 4 'at the earliest.'

On the middcap, BAM led gainers, up 3.77% to 15.69, followed by Oce, rising 3.24% to 12.44 Eur after the company sold its German Documents unit.

ASMI lifted 2.30% to 15.60.

LogicaCMG added 0.65% to 1.56 Eur following an upgrade to 'neutral' from 'sell' at Goldman Sachs.

Boskalis advanced 1.23% to 41.0 Eur after the Australian city of Melbourne awarded the dredging group a 300 mln Eur contract.

Local stock Spyker closed up 2.79% to 4.05 Eur after the company secured new financing from Lithuanian bank Snoras.

Crucell strengthened 0.89% to 11.35 Eur after the company announced that tuberculosis vaccine clinical trials starting in the US.

Among the few AEX decliners, Philips ended the day down 1.95% to 30.11 as investors digested the 3.6 bln Eur takeover price tag for Respironics.

DSM lost 0.99% to 32.09.

Local issue Pharming fell 3.19% to 0.91 after the company said it has submitted a request to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) to reexamine its application to market lead product Rhucin, which was rejected earlier this month.

Penultimately in Europe we go to France now where in Paris Share prices closed sharply higher, regaining nearly all of the week's losses thanks to talk of a hefty capital injection for US bank Merrill Lynch and strong earnings from the technology sector.

The CAC-40 index finished up 91.32 points or 1.66% at 5,602.77.

Among CAC-40 stocks, 36 closed higher and four closed lower.

On the broader indices, the SBF-80 index closed up 66.32 points or 1.07% at 6,275.36 and the SBF-120 ended 62.85 points or 1.58% higher at 4,047.15.

Danone led Paris's blue-chip gainers, rising 2.76 Eur or 4.66% to 61.96. The bottled water and yogurt maker said it has agreed a temporary 'ceasefire' in its feud with Chinese joint venture partner Hangzhou Wahaha.

'Both parties agree to temporarily suspend all lawsuits and arbitrations, stop all aggressive and hostile statements and create a friendly environment for peace talks,' the two companies said in a joint statement.

Danone and Wahaha have been feuding in Chinese courts over the terms of their joint venture to sell yogurt and other dairy products.

Credit Agricole trailed the sector and market, closing up 0.20 Eur or 0.87% to 23.07 after anouncing heavier-than-expected sub-prime-related writedowns last night.

The negative reaction was initially more marked, with shares tumbling by up to 2.5%. But sentiment imprioved as investors warmed to the idea that Credit Agricole is actually showing a highly prudent provisioning policy, and is maintaining its shareholder dividend.

Credit Agricole's announcement nonetheless focused attention on Societe Generale's sub-prime exposure, weighing on the share's performance. At the close, SocGen was up 0.09 Eur or 0.25% at 98.44.

Late Thursday the bank announced it had agreed to raise its stake in Russia's Rosbank to just over 50% and then launch a buyout, which the bank estimated could represent a total investment of 2.775 bln usd.

Gaz de France rose 1.47 Eur or 3.78% to 40.36 after it announced a plan to buy back up to 2.5% of its own capital for about 1 bln Eur.

And last but by no means least in Europe this week, we go to Belgium where Brussels' shares were higher at the close, with imaging technology group Agfa-Gevaert leading the blue-chip gainers and buoyed by an optimistic Wall Street and increasing investor confidence, trading sources said.

At the close, the Bel 20 was up 56.67 points or 1.40 to 4,114.59.

Agfa-Gevaert jumped to 0.60 Eur or 6.01% in closing deals. Inbev gained 1.64 Eur or 2.95% to 57.16.

After the market closed, the brewer announced that it has named Stefan Descheemaeker as chief strategy officer.

Descheemaker will be succeeded as zone president for Western Europe by Alain BeYens, currently zone president for Central and Eastern Europe.

Francisco Sa, who is currently vice-president of the group's soft drinks operations for Northern Latin America, will take over from BeYens.

Steel cord manufacturer Bekaert rose 2.36 Eur or 2.71% to 89.48.

Utility Suez was up 1.09 Eur or 2.37% at 47.15 after a committee representing Suez workers from around Europe pledged to issue an opinion on the company's planned merger with Gaz de France on Jan 7.

Separately, Electrabel, which is fully-owned by Suez, said it has bought a new wind farm in Nave, Portugal, from Spanish peer Gamesa for 50 mln Eur.

For the heavyweight financials, KBC rose 1.25 Eur or 1.32% to 95.90, whilst Fortis added 0.16 Eur or 0.90% to 19.87.

Fortis said its Fortis Bank unit has named Filip Dierckx chairman of the management committee from Jan 1. He succeeds Herman Verwilst, who will replace Jean-Paul Votron as chairman of Fortis Bank's board of directors.

Peer Dexia slipped 0.01 Eur or 0.06% to 16.86.

Earlier Friday the Belgo-French bancassurer announced that it and Societe Generale SA, Caja Madrid and Instituto de Credito Oficial have raised the funds to arrange a new 1.2 bln Eur financing package for the Madrid metro, the largest ever undertaken in Spain.

The investment of 450 mln Eur will be undertaken by a special purpose vehicle company in which the banks will each take a share, Dexia says.

Belgacom edged 0.04 Eur or 0.12% lower to 33.67 after it said it may sell fully-owned IT services subsidiary Win SA following 'a discrepancy between Belgacom and the Walloon government about the execution of the contract of services'.

Outside the Bel 20, Mitiska rose 0.38 Eur or 2.92% after the investment company said it and venture capital fund Sofindev have taken joint control of women's fashion retailer Cassis-Paprika.

Mitiska and Sofindev plan to invest 13.95 mln Eur and 9.30 mln Eur respectively and will jointly obtain a majority stake, they said in a statement.

The valuation and financial structure of the transaction were not disclosed and the deal is expected to close by the end of January 2008.

Roularta added 1.50 Eur or 3.13% after it said it and the Online Company have agreed to create the Travelmedia joint venture, an online travel portal.

UK Market - A strong performance Friday, spearheaded by miners, enabled the FTSE to finish marginally higher on the week, an achievement that looked unlikely after Monday’s fall-out.

Though miners such as Antofagasta, Kazakhmys, Vedanta and Anglo American dominated the top of the FTSE leaderboard it was brewer SABMiller that posted the biggest gains of the day, as it inked an agreement with Molson Coors to combine their US and Puerto Rico operations to form MillerCoors.

Rolls-Royce cruised ahead following its capture yesterday of a £72m offshore marine contract.

Friends Provident limped higher despite press reports that it has frozen its £1.2bn flagship fund after a rush for the exit by investors over the past three weeks.

Mitchells & Butlers was a rare bleak feature on the day it gets ejected from the FTSE 100, following yesterday’s downgrade from JP Morgan. Other stocks bidding their farewell to the blue-chip index to decline included Northern Rock, Barratt Developments, Daily Mail and DSG.

The long running bid saga at magazine and radio group Emap finally came to an end as it accepted a bid from a joint venture company formed by media outfit The Guardian Media Group and private equity firm Apax Partners Worldwide. The exit price is 470p per share but Emap shareholders will also get to pocket a special dividend worth 461p, effectively making the bid worth 931p per share.

In other bid news, software group Northgate IS has agreed to a takeover from giant US private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. The offer of 95p per share in cash values Northgate IS at £593m and is a 60% premium to the price the day before it announced an approach.

The share price of specialist carpet and floor covering group Carpetright was looking threadbare, however, after management buy-out talks were terminated.

Aberdeen Asset Management is to buy Dresdner Bank subsidiary DEGI, a leading German-based property investment management company, for a cash consideration of €110m (approximately £79.2m). DEGI has approximately €6.4bn (£4.7bn) of assets under management in a number of property funds offering German, European or global commercial property exposure.

Engineer Morgan Crucible has agreed to buy the ceramics business of Carpenter Technology Corporation for $147m, or around £73m, in cash, it said Friday. The two businesses, moulded ceramic components maker Certech and engineered ceramics products unit Carpenter Advanced Ceramics, will be acquired on a cash and debt free basis.

Fellow engineer Invensys has agreed to sell its Firex safety division to the UTC Fire & Security unit of United Technologies for $44m in cash. The Firex business generated operating profit of $4m on revenue of $80m in the year to 31 March 2007.

A busy week for controversial Sports Direct International was capped by the sale of 29m Umbro shares to Nike at 193.06p each, to net £56m.

Densitron, the designer and manufacturer of electronic displays, is to pocket £1.24m in cash for the sale to Greenwich council of 4.25 acres of land. Densitron is making a profit of around £0.85m on the sale.

Pendragon was wanted after revealing it has made a £6m profit from three further surplus property sales this month for a total consideration of £10m. This brings proceeds from property sales this year to £41.5m on profits from these sales of £15.3m. Pendragon said it currently has surplus properties under offer with estimated proceeds of £34m and a book value of £19m.

Investors developed an appetite for Northern Foods today after Merrill Lynch set a 100p price target and changed its stance on the stock to “buy” from “neutral”.

Dana Petroleum has struck oil at the Kerloch structure in Block 211/22a NW in the UK Northern North Sea. This is the first well in Dana's major 21 well exploration and appraisal drilling campaign, which is scheduled to include 20 further wells in 2008. " The Kerloch well results are very encouraging, following on just a few weeks after discovering oil with our first well in Norway," chief executive Tony Cross said.

On Aim, EBT Mobile has received a bid approach, while poor trading news has unsettled Straight and Zenith Hygiene.

Building restoration firm Your Space climbed higher despite reduced pre-tax profits. The group said that since the end of the reporting period it has conditionally agreed to sell its freehold site at Glasgow via a sale and leaseback for a price in excess of £8m.

Down in the dumps personal debt consultant Debtmatters recovered ground today despite a big drop in half year profit. There was some cheer though as the firm said its loan broking division performing well and comfortably in line with the company’s expectations.

Japan & Asia Pacific - Stocks across the Region finished the week sharply higher Friday as investors sought bargains, while a report on a capital injection into Merrill Lynch and firmer Asian equities markets lifted sentiment.

In Tokyo, Japanese shares rallied well after a sluggish start. The blue-chip Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 225.40 points or 1.5% to end at 15,257.00, off a high of 15,275.61 and a low of 14,998.01. Over the week, the Nikkei lost 1.7%.

The broader Topix index edged up 11.64 points or 0.8% to 1,469.20. It declined 2.1% from a week before.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 1,000 to 607, with 116 issues unchanged.

Volume rose to 1.98 billion shares, up from 1.67 billion on Thursday.

Nippon Steel rose 16 Yen or 2.5% to 646. Nikon climbed 170 Yen or 4.3% to 4,090. Bridgestone Corp was up 52 Yen or 2.7% at 2,015.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial was down 13 Yen or 1.2% at 1.041. Aiful Corp slid 76 Yen or 3.8% to 1,924 and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines fell 36 Yen or 2.5% to 1,400.

Toshiba Corp advanced 20 Yen or 2.5% to 837 after Sharp Corp said it is studying tying up with Toshiba in the field of LCD panels. Sharp rose 55 Yen or 2.9% to 1,956. Hitachi Ltd rallied 28 Yen or 3.6% to 805 Yen after it said it is taking steps to turn around its hard-disk drive business but has not decided yet whether to sell it.

Canon Inc fell 120 Yen or 2.2% to 5,240 Yen. The Nikkei daily reported earlier that Canon is expected to post record net profit of 488 billion Yen in 2007, up 7% from a year earlier on strong sales of digital cameras and copiers. The net profit projection is below the previous estimate of 500 billion, dampening investor sentiment.

Hong Kong shares closed Friday higher as investors picked up bargains mostly in the property sector, while they shrugged off China's latest interest rate increase and focused instead on the strong performance of markets in the region after Wall Street finished firmer overnight.

Property counters led the index higher on expectations consumers will invest in real estate as a hedge against accelerating inflation.

The government reported Thursday that Hong Kong's consumer prices rose a faster 3.4% in November from a year earlier, compared with a 3.2% rise in October. It was also the highest rate in nine years.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 609.83 points or 2.3% at 27,626.92, off a high of 27,670.31 and a low of 27,192.80.

Turnover was 83.4 billion Hong Kong Dollars.

Trading overall was thin ahead of the holidays. The market will trade half-day on Monday and will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The property index was up 1,482.73 points or 4.2% at 36,904.30.

The People's Bank of China, the mainland's central bank, late on Thursday raised its benchmark one-year lending rate by 18 basis points to 7.47% and its one-year deposit rate by 27 basis points to 4.14%. The increase, the sixth this year, takes effect today and is aimed at cooling the economy.

Property stocks were higher on expectations of strong real estate demand. Cheung Kong (Holdings), Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's flagship property company, gained 6 Dollars or 4.5% at 140.60.

Sun Hung Kai Properties, the city's biggest developer, rose 6.50 Dollars or 4.2% to 160.20. Hang Lung Properties advanced 60 cents or 1.8 to 33.60 Dollars. Henderson Land added 1.75 Dollars or 2.5% to 70.55.

China Mobile rose 3 Dollars or 2.2% to 137.80. Asia's biggest mobile phone operator on Thursday said it added 6.5 million subscribers in November, bringing the total to 362.8 million. China Construction Bank (CCB) rose 2 cents to 6.68 Dollars. China's third-biggest bank plans to open wholly-owned subsidiaries in London and the Middle East, including the booming city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The bank will also open a branch in Doha, Qatar, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange late Thursday.

China's biggest bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, gained 14 cents or 2.5% at 5.72 Dollars, while Bank of China, the mainland's No 2, was up 1 cent at 3.90 Dollars. Bank of Communications climbed 18 cents or 1.7% to 10.98 Dollars.

China's top banks are likely to make up for the expected drop in lending through other sources of revenue, including fees and charges imposed on services, such as wealth management and investments in stocks and other securities.

Their revenue from lending to other banks that are short with funds is also expected to rise.

HSBC unit Hang Seng Bank rallied 6 Dollars or 3.9% to 158.60 Dollars. HSBC firmed 1.10 Dollars to 132.20 Dollars.

Bank of East Asia was up 2.30 Dollars or 4.7% at 51.40 Dollars.

Retailer Esprit Holdings, which has outlets in the US, Europe and the Middle East, was up 3.40 Dollars or 3% at 114.70.

Li & Fung, which supplies clothes and other consumer items in US and European stores, surged 2.45 Dollars or 8.2% to 32.50 Dollars.

China A-shares closed higher led by airlines and metals companies.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 58.24 points or 1.15% at 5,101.78, extending a 4.28% rally from the past two sessions.

Turnover rose to 103.48 bln RMB from 87.84 in the previous session.

Banks were mixed as the central bank lowered the rate on demand deposits by 9 basis points, which some investors hope will mitigate the negative impact on margins from higher rates paid on time deposits.

Some property developers also recovered in late trade as the lending rate for loans over five years and government-assisted mortgage rates remained unchanged.

Jiangxi Copper Co Ltd gained 1.49 RMB to 50.32, and Aluminum Corp of China Ltd added 1.27 RMB to 38.98.

China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd advanced 0.40 RMB to 18.73, and China Southern Airlines Co Ltd rose 1.21 RMB to 26.56.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.12 RMB to 8.01, and Bank of Communications Co Ltd gained 0.17 RMB to 14.92.

Industrial Bank Co Ltd shed 0.51 RMB to 49.09.

COFCO Property (Group) Co Ltd gained 0.90 RMB to 23.40, and China Vanke Co Ltd fell 0.08 RMB to 28.30.

Liaoning Publishing and Media Co Ltd surged 15.29 RMB to 19.93 from its initial public offering price of 4.64 RMB on its Shanghai debut today.

The Shanghai A-share Index rose 61.36 points or 1.16% to 5,353.76 and the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 19.59 points or 1.37% at 1,445.73.

The FTSE/Xinhua China A 50 Index was up 215.48 points at 19,763.05 and the FTSE/Xinhua China A 200 Index was up 178.56 points at 14,433.41.

China B-shares also closed higher led by blue chips.  The Shanghai B-share Index rose 0.91 points or 0.26% to 355.49 on turnover of 511.53 mln usd and the Shenzhen B-share Index rose 5.91 points or 0.87% to 685.10 on turnover of 381.01 mln $HK.

SH Haixin Group jumped 0.064 usd to 1.067, and Jinjiang Intl Hotels rose 0.049 usd to 1.840.

Xincheng Real Estate lost 0.015 usd to 2.082.

In Shenzhen, Jiangling Motors Corp Ltd added 0.42 $HK to 10.48 after it projected annual vehicle output to hit 150,000 units by 2010.

China Merchants Property Development Co Ltd fell 0.10 $HK to 27.70.

The FTSE/Xinhua China B 35 Index was up 62.71 points at 11,561.50.

South Korean shares closed sharply higher Friday after a volatile session led by banks, on hopes that current government restrictions on the ownership of local commercial banks may be lifted under the new government.

President-elect Lee Myung-Bak suggested during his campaign that he would allow local industrial or business conglomerates to acquire majority stakes in banks to facilitate the privatization of the banking sector.

After moving listlessly in the morning, the market advanced later in the session as foreign investors stepped up their futures purchases, triggering a massive amount of program buying for large-cap blue chips.

The KOSPI index closed up 33.95 points or 1.8% at 1,878.32, its best level for the day. The low was 1,832.34. The benchmark index lost 16.73 points for the week.

Advancers outpaced decliners 410 to 386.

Institutions were net buyers of shares worth 660.8 billion won while foreign and retail investors were net sellers of 295.1 billion won and 271.1 billion won, respectively.

Kookmin Bank jumped 2,500 won or 3.7% to 69,900 won and Shinhan Financial climbed 3,500 won or 6.8% to 55,300 won. Woori also rallied 500 won or 2.6% to 19,550 won and Hana advanced 3,300 won or 6.6% to 53,100 won.

Daewoo Shipbuilding surged 4,000 won or 9.1% to 48,000 won, rising for a fourth day, with investors attracted to the stock on hopes that the company's sale will be accelerated under the new government.

Hyundai Heavy also jumped 18,000 won or 4.5% to 422,000 won on the shipbuilding industry's bright outlook for next year.

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance rose 25,000 won or 10.8% to 257,000 won, recovering most of its heavy losses recently after a collission of two ships off the west coast of South Korea, one of them insured by Samsung Fire, resulted in a major oil spill.

In The Philippines, Manila shares closed higher Friday led by gains in select blue chips after the central bank trimmed its key interest rates by 25 basis points in a move intended to slow the Peso's rise against the US Dollar.

Manila's composite index finished up 41.02 points or 1.2% at 3,532.98, off a low of 3,491.96. It was down 0.2% from the previous week.

The broader all-share index gained 26.53 points or 1.2% at 2,176.74.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 67 to 39 while 56 stocks ended flat.

A total of 13.1 billion shares worth P2.8 billion changed hands.

Index leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. added P15.00 or 0.5% to P3,030.00.

Rate-sensitive banking and property counters were the day's biggest gainers.

Bank of the Philippine Islands, the country's third largest bank by assets, gained P2.00 or 3.5% to P60.00.

Banco de Oro-EPCI rose P2.00 or 3.4% to P60.50, while Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. edged up P1.00 or 1.9% to P55.00.

Megaworld Corp., the country's second-biggest homebuilder, was up 20 centavos or 5.3% at P3.95.

Ayala Land Inc. was steady at P14.25.

SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country's largest mall operator, advanced 50 centavos or 4.9% to P10.75.

San Miguel's A shares, limited to local investors was up P1.00 or 1.7% at P60.00. Its B shares, open to all investors, gained P1.50 or 2.5% to P61.00.

In Taiwan Share prices closed higher, with sentiment buoyed by Wall Street's firmer tone overnight in reaction to upbeat results from enterprise software leader Oracle Corp.

While margin call pressure briefly dragged down the index in early trade, bargain hunters focusing on bellwether technology stocks pushed it to a firmer close.

Dealers said the Taiwan central bank's decision to raise key interest rates by 12.5 basis points from today was in line with expectations and had little impact on the market.

The weighted index closed up 84.36 points or 1.07% at 7,941.44, off a low of 7,810.27 and a high of 8,006.56, on turnover of 100.44 bln $NTD.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 1,021 to 837, with 537 stocks unchanged. For the week, the index fell 176.64 points or 2.18%.

A total of 12 stocks closed limit-up, while 58 were limit-down.

The petrochemical sector was up 1.58%, electronics rose 1.32% and financials added 0.14%.

The textile sector was down 1.20% and auto lost 0.57%.

The Taiwan Dollar ended the morning session at 32.480/Dollar, compared with the previous close of 32.496.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co closed up 4.00 $NTD or 2.13% to 191.50; MediaTek rose 13.00 $NTD or 3.32% to 404.00; High Tech Computer gained 15.00 $NTD or 2.86% to 540.00; AU Optronics rallied 3.10 $NTD or 5.74% to 57.10; and Chi Mei Optoelectronics surged 1.80 $NTD or 4.55% to 41.40 on valuation buying.

United Microelectronics (UMC) rose 0.20 $NTD to 19.55 on a report that it is poised to become Cypress Semiconductor Corp's largest contract maker of memory chips as the US company adopts an asset-light strategy.

UMC peer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was unchanged at 59.00.

China Steel added 0.45 $NTD to 41.55 on its decision to invest about 293 mln usd to establish a steel plant in Vietnam.

Chang Hwa Bank rose 0.05 $NTD to 16.80 after news that the Ministry of Finance will honor a parliamentary resolution and discontinue sales of government shares in the bank.

Taishin Financial Holding, which owns 25.13% of Chang Hwa Bank, rallied 0.40 $NTD or 3.38% to 12.25.

Among other stocks in focus, Formosa Plastics jumped 2.20 $NTD or 2.57% to 87.90; Far Eastern Textile lost 0.60 $NTD to 35.50; and SinoPac Holdings added 0. 25 $NTD or 2.19% to 11.65.

Malaysian shares closed higher Friday supported by gains in key blue chips, but volumes were thin as most traders have begun their holiday break ahead of the weekend and Christmas Day.

The Malaysian stock exchange will be closed on Tuesday for the Christmas holiday.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) closed up 16.35 points or 1.2% at 1,403.56, little changed from last Friday's closing level of 1,403.41.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30-large cap rose 115.92 points or 1.3% to 9,065.06 and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia second board index added 17.01 points or 0.3% to 6,652.08.

Advancers outnumbered decliners 472 to 344, with 293 stocks unchanged and 240 counters untraded.

Trading volume was 636.24 million shares valued at 1.4 billion ringgit.

Palm oil producer Kuala Lumpur Kepong led the advance, rising 50 sen or 3.2% to 16.20 ringgit.

Sime Darby, the world's largest listed palm oil company by planted area, rose 20 sen or 1.8% to 11.20 ringgit.

Among other index heavyweights, Telekom Malaysia advanced 10 sen or 0.9% to 11.20 ringgit, national power supplier Tenaga rose 25 sen or 2.7% to 9.55 ringgit and Maybank, Malaysia's largest bank, was up 10 sen or 0.9% at 11.60 ringgit.

IJM Corp jumped 35 sen or 4.3% to 8.55 ringgit after the construction group said it plans to make a cash repayment of 50 sen per share.

Gamuda gained 32 sen or 7.3% to 4.72 ringgit. The builder is the contractor for the 12.5 billion ringgit double-tracking project linking Malaysia and Thailand.

State-controlled UEM World rose 10 sen or 2.7% to 3.84 ringgit and its construction arm, UEM Builder, advanced 2 sen or 1.8% to 1.15 ringgit.

On Wednesday, UEM Land, the property arm of UEM World, said it has teamed up with Limitless Holdings to develop a residential project in the southern state of Johor. Limitless is a unit of Dubai World, an investment company owned by the Dubai government.

At the close, the Malaysian ringgit was quoted at 3.3470/3520 against the US Dollar.

Three-month interbank rates were quoted at 3.58/61% and the overnight rates were quoted at 3.48/50%.

Singapore shares closed higher Friday as Wall Street's advance overnight prompted investors to pick up bargains following recent selloffs, while fund managers adjusted their portfolios for the year-end.

Banking shares supported the index as investors set aside concerns about further subprime writedowns and focused on the banks' strong fundamentals at least for now.

Wall Street closed firmer despite higher subprime writedowns by Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns.

The Straits Times Index gained 40.76 points or 1.2% to 3,398.10, off a low of 3,373.35 and a high of 3,421.90 points. The benchmark index lost 68.28 points or 2.0% this week.

Market volume was 1.5 billion shares valued at 2.0 billion Singapore Dollars.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 418 to 290, with 998 stocks unchanged.

The year-end gains will likely be muted next week as market sentiment continued to be weighed down by US economic concerns.

Banking stocks were mostly higher on expectations that strong loan growth will be sustained into next year. DBS Vickers said it expects loans to expand by 15% in 2008 from 2007, supported by robust growth in housing and construction lending.

DBS Group added 50 Singapore cents to 20.50 Dollars and United Overseas Bank rose 60 cents to 19.60 Dollars. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp fell 10 cents to 8.30 Dollars.

Singapore Telecommunications dipped 4 cents to 3.68 Dollars.

But HSBC Global Research has an 'overweight' rating on SingTel with a target price of 4.60 Dollars, expecting the company's regional affiliates such as Indonesia's Bharti and Indonesia's Telkomsel to continue boosting earnings.

Among other blue chip gainers, Singapore Airlines added 10 cents to 17.30 Dollars and ST Engineering rose 10 cents to 3.80 Dollars.

Industrial conglomerate Keppel Corp jumped 30 to 12.60 Dollars after the FSTP consortium, in which it has partnered with Technip, has won a deal worth about 1.2 billion US Dollars from Petroleo Brasiliero (Petrobras).

Swiber Holdings Ltd, provider of engineering services to the oil and gas industry, jumped 26 cents to 3.36 Dollars, after securing additional works from Brunei Shell Petroleum, raising the value of the contract to 200 million Dollars from 146.6 million Dollars.

DBS Vickers has a 'buy' rating on Swiber with a 12-month target price of 4.18 Dollars.

China-based shipbuilder Yangzijiang Shipbuilding closed 8 cents higher at 1.93 Dollars, after announcing its unit Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co Ltd has secured a contract worth 1.36 billion US Dollars to build 20 container ships for China's COSCO group.

Thai share prices closed higher on Friday, lifted by steady gains across the region and a sharp rise in local energy-linked stocks.

Investors were also upbeat that Sunday's election, the first since last year's bloodless coup ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, would go smoothly.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index rose 21.89 points or 2.76% to 813.60, while the blue-chip SET-50 index gained 19.05 points to close at 594.80.

Gainers outnumbered losers 264 to 60, with 114 stocks unchanged on turnover of 1.8 billion shares worth 13.1 billion Baht.

The Thai Baht finished at 33.69-70 to the Dollar, little changed from Thursday's close. Against the Euro, the Thai currency was quoted at 48.39-44 from 48.27-32.

PTT rose 16.00 Baht to 346.00, and its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production gained 11.00 to 148.00. Thai Oil added 3.00 to 83.00.

The kingdom's top lender Bangkok Bank was also up 2.00 at 115.00.

Thai Airways International edged up 1.25 to 37.75 and Thailand's biggest mobile phone operator, Advanced Info Service, rose 1.00 to 91.00.

The markets in India and Indonesia were closed Friday for holidays.

Down Under now where in Sydney, Australian shares closed sharply higher Friday, ending a seven-day losing streak, with banks leading the way up on talk that China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange had bought stakes in major banks, including Australia & New Zealand Banking Group.

The S&P/ASX 200 ended up 70.1 points or 1.1% at 6,247.0, off its high for the day of 6,285.6 and a low of 6,183.6. For the week the index lost 251.7 points or 3.9%.

The All Ordinaries was up 64.6 points or 1.0% at 6,309.4

Volume traded was 1.69 billion shares worth 10.59 billion Australian Dollars.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 629 to 569, with 374 stocks unchanged.

The S&P/ASX March futures contract was up 97 points at 6,289.

The yield on the 10-year bond rose 0.03%age point to 6.265% while the yield on 90-day bills eased 0.071%age point to 7.227%.

Centro fell 20 cents or 15.2% to 1.12 Australian Dollars after staging a partial recovery on Wednesday and Thursday, from a low of 80.5 cents hit on Tuesday. Ahead of its suspension Monday pending the announcement, the stock had been trading at 5.70 Dollars.

Centro is not indicative of the Australian listed property trust sector as a whole where gearing levels are generally lower, said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors.

Support for the banks on talk that a Chinese government agency had acquired a one% stake in ANZ in recent weeks was the tonic the market needed to reverse the seven-day losing streak.

ANZ ended up 55 cents or 2.1% at 27.40 Dollars, National Australia Bank gained 1.33 Dollars or 3.7% to 37.81 Dollars, Westpac added 23 cents or 0.8% to 27.53 while Commonwealth Bank slipped 1.0 cent to 57.77 Dollars.

Leading investment bank Macquarie Group rebounded 2.92 Dollars or 4.0% to 76.09 Dollars after coming under selling pressure for most of the week.

Miners also made solid advances with BHP Billiton gaining 15 cents or 0.4% to 39.65 Dollars, Rio Tinto adding 55 cents or 0.4% to 128.55 Dollars and base metals miner Zinifex jumping 55 cent or 4.6% to 12.53 Dollars.

Retailers made solid advances on expectations of strong Christmas sales because of a strong economy. The nation's largest retailer Woolworths added 45 cents or 1.4% to 33.80 Dollars while Wesfarmers, which now owns the second largest retailer Coles Group, climbed 50 cents or 1.3% to 40.50 Dollars.

Department store owner David Jones advanced 17 cents or 3.3% to 5.30 Dollars.

In Wellington, New Zealand share prices rose 1.16% on Friday as investors welcomed gains in offshore markets.

The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 45.95 points to close at 3,993.51 on turnover worth 134.2 million Dollars (102.4 million US Dollars).

Auckland International Airport shares rose 8 cents to 2.80 Dollars, off a high of 2.89, after the company announced it had signed a confidentiality deed with an international party interested in taking a stake in the airport.

The announcement comes a week after the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board launched its 3.6555 Dollars a share bid aimed at snaring a 39% stake.

Market leader Telecom rose 8 cents to 4.42 Dollars.

Contact Energy shares rose 15 cents to 8.25 Dollars, on top of a 4 cent rise Thursday after announcing it had joined 51% owner, Origin Energy, to buy the New Zealand oil and gas assets of US-based Swift Energy.

Fletcher Building was down 5 cents at 11.20 Dollars, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare rose 5 cents to 3.38 and sister company Fisher & Paykel Appliances was down 1 cent at 3.37.

Air New Zealand rose 8 cents to 1.90 Dollars after it announced a 45 million Dollar heavy maintenance contract with Virgin Blue.

Commodities - Commodities indices in 2007 are set to enjoy their best annual returns in the past five years after the boom in prices for raw materials extended with strong gains for agricultural commodities this week.

Total returns at the S&P GSCI index, the most popular commodity index tracked by about $70bn of funds, are up almost 29%, the highest since the index posted a 32% increase in 2002. The performance is in strong contrast with a 15% decline in 2006.

In Chicago, agricultural commodities surged this week, pulled higher by strong demand from emerging countries and tight supplies. Global inventories for cereals are set to fall to a multi-decade low. Wheat and rice prices hit a record high, soyabean prices soared to a 34-year high while corn prices jumped to an 11-year high.

CBOT March 2008 corn surged on the week by 6.1% to $4.48 a bushel while CBOT January soyabean moved 1.3% higher to $11.73¾ a bushel.

CBOT March wheat rose 1.1% to $9.48¾ a bushel on the week, having jumped briefly to a record high above the $10-a-bushel level. The cereal market was boosted by traders’ concerns that Russia may impose further export tariffs that will limit supply.

Bankers and traders said they expected more investment money to flow into the agricultural arena in early 2008, contributing to higher prices.

Metals prices closed the week higher, posting strong gains on Friday, supported by robust demand from Asian economies. In light trading at the London Metal Exchange, copper rose 4.5% on the week to $6,818 a tonne, recovering from a nine-month low. Aluminium ended the week flat at $1,414 a tonne.

Lead surged 7.2% to $2,647 a tonne while tin rose 2.3% to $16,475 a tonne. Zinc moved 3.1% higher to $2,413 a tonne.

Crude oil prices were volatile on the week amid mixed signals about demand. The US government weather service forecasted a warmer-than-usual winter but traders also pointed out that recent demand indicators have been stronger-than-expected.

Nymex February West Texas Intermediate rose 1.5% to $92.64 a barrel while ICE February Brent lost 0.6% to $92.09 a barrel.

Barclays Capital, one of the most accurate crude oil price forecasters since 2000, upgraded its price forecast for WTI in 2008 to $87.40 a barrel.

Nymex January RBOB gasoline rose 1.7% to $2.3795 a gallon, while Nymex January heating oil moved 0.2% higher to $2.6121 a gallon.

Precious metals surged, with platinum hitting a record high of $1,516 a troy ounce and rising 2.6% on the week to $1,514 an ounce. Spot gold rose 2.0% to $810.4 an ounce.

Currencies - The Pound dropped to a record low against the Euro on Friday as the prospects of a near-term cut in UK interest rates continued to weigh on the currency.

This was despite retail sales figures, which came in slightly better than expected in November, showing a 0.4% rise on the month.

In contrast most analysts expect the European Central Bank to keep Eurozone interest rates on hold at 4% in the first quarter of 2008 amid concerns over growing inflationary pressures in the region.

The Pound dropped to a low of £0.7256 against the Euro, its weakest level since the launch of the single currency in 1999.

However, the Pound edged 0.1% higher against the Dollar to $1.9850.

Analysts said the Dollar lost ground as traders took profits on a move which has seen the greenback rise to a two-month high against the Euro this week.

The Dollar eased 0.2% to $1.4363 against the Euro and fell 0.2% to SFr1.1560 against the Swiss franc.

The Dollar rose 0.2% to Y113.30 against the Yen, however, on reports that Merrill Lynch was expected to receive a $5bn cash injection from Temasek, Singapore’s state-owned investment company.

Analysts said the news boosted risk appetite, driving investors into carry trades, in which the low-yielding Yen is sold to finance the purchase of higher-yielding, riskier assets elsewhere.

The Yen fell 0.5% to Y162.75 against the Euro, dropped 0.2 per c ent to Y224.78 against the Yen and lost 1.1% to Y86.75 against the higher-yielding New Zealand Dollar.

The South African Rand was range-bound in thin holiday trade Friday. This after slipping almost 2% in an extremely volatile session yesterday which traders attributed to a combination of a stronger Dollar, negativity over the local political situation and mixed inflation news.

The Rand was bid at 7.0110 to the Dollar from its overnight close of 7.0350. It was bid at 10.0966 to the Euro from a previous 10.1135 and at 13.9330 against Sterling from 13.9836 before.

And rounding out currencies as always closer to home, the RMB finished yesterday at a fresh high of 7.3630 to the Dollar on the over-the-counter (OTC) market, up from 7.3694 Thursday.

China - China raised interest rates on Thursday for the sixth time this year, a move intended in large part to ease growing public concerns about rising inflation.

The announcement of the rate rise came shortly after the People's Bank of China released a survey of depositors showing their dissatisfaction with price levels and expectations of continued increases- both at recent highs.

The central bank raised one-year benchmark deposit rates by 27 basis points to 4.14%, and one-year lending rates by 18 basis points to 7.47%.

The bank said it ordered the increase in order to "guide public inflation expectations" at a time when there was "upward pressure on domestic price levels and complex trends in the international environment".

Fuelled by soaring prices for pork, Chinese consumer inflation hit 6.9% in November and looks likely to persist longer than officials had hoped.

In a sign that previous efforts to promote pig-rearing are proving insufficient, the government this week promised to double its subsidy to farmers for each fertile sow to Rmb100 next year and to give Rmb2.5bn to support large-scale standardised pig production.

However, economists warn that higher food prices are likely to endure and, together with rising energy costs, will fuel wider inflationary pressures.

Of 20,000 depositors questioned for the central bank survey, some 48% considered prices to be "overly high and hard to accept", a rise of 23%age points year-on-year.

"Separately, 64.8% of those surveyed expected prices to continue to rise next year, a record high" for the quarterly survey, which began in 1999, the bank said.

While the survey's vague wording leaves details of respondents' expectations unclear, it highlights the risk that price pressures will spread throughout the economy.

Rising inflation comes at a time where there are broader concerns about the Chinese economy amid signs of over-investment in some sectors and forecasts of a major downturn in demand from the US.

A separate central bank survey of 5,497 companies found they were under growing pressure from higher prices and were increasingly concerned about over-heating.

"The enterprise confidence index is falling in step with intensifying concerns among company managers about overheating tendencies in the economy," the central bank said.

Despite such worries, the survey found some recovery in companies' fixed-asset investment, while a separate survey of commercial bankers found that a majority of them thought monetary policy "too tight".

Although bank real interest rates are negative, repeated interest rate rises appear to have boosted savers' enthusiasm, with the central bank survey finding growing numbers of depositors describing their returns as "appropriate". Recent stock market falls had also cooled enthusiasm for such investments, the central bank said.

To promote the use of term deposits – and thus prevent rapid shifts of funds from banks to stocks - the central bank cut the interest rate for current accounts by nine basis points to 0.72%.

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Royal Bank of Scotland is to consider investing in a second Chinese institution as the banking group seeks to build up its investment banking operations in the country.

RBS is to discuss taking a 19.9% stake in Suzhou Trust, based in China’s Jiangsu province, and has asked regulators for approval, a person familiar with the matter said. But any agreement could take up to a year to finalise.

The talks come more than two years after RBS led a consortium that acquired a 10% stake in Bank of China, one of the country’s largest lenders, for $3.1bn. The investment faced heavy criticism from investors, but the value of RBS’s stake has soared with Bank of China’s shares after its stock market flotation.

RBS has used its co-operation with Bank of China to launch a credit-card joint venture, and the two lenders are working together to provide high-end private banking services for wealthy mainland investors.

However, the investment in Suzhou Trust is reckoned to be motivated by RBS’s desire to expand its investment banking operations in mainland China. Suzhou mainly provides funding for government infrastructure projects. Suzhou was previously reported to have held talks with Morgan Stanley, the US investment banking group.

News of the decision comes shortly after a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium took control of ABN Amro, the Dutch banking group, with a €71bn ($102bn) break-up bid. RBS will take control of ABN Amro’s wholesale banking division as well as its operations in Asia.

Sir Fred Goodwin, RBS’s chief executive, this month published lower-than-expected write-downs on private equity loans and assets affected by the meltdown in the US subprime mortgage market.

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China Cosco, the country's largest container shipping line, on Thursday lifted its full-year profit forecast 50% because of improved conditions in the global shipping market.

Analysts said the revision was expected because of strong demand for dry bulk commodities in emerging economies, rising rates and the conservativeness of the company's earlier forecast.

The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of freight costs for dry bulk goods such as iron ore and grains, has increased by about 44% in the second half, bolstered by demand from China and India.

Rates for dry bulk ships have escalated this year because of strong demand from developing countries, the increasing length of journeys needed to bring cargoes to market and hold-ups created by congestion at busy ports. Analysts expected prices to remain relatively high in the near term due to a shortage of ships.

China Cosco said on Thursday that net profit for 2007 was likely to be 50% higher than a forecast of Rmb12.17bn ($1.65bn) made in September, or about Rmb18.26bn. The company acquired its parent's dry bulk shipping arm three months ago. It now derives about 75% of net profit and 40% of revenue from the operation.