Across Europe the exchanges continued the trend of recent gains as both the US and Asian markets posted strong closes overnight. The FTSE hit a high of 6016.7 and was treading tentatively around the 6000 figure throughout the day. The CAC was up 29.15 points at 5286.34 as we entered the late afternoon period. The DAX was also up 31.92 points at 6077.92 as we headed into the late afternoon period. Corus Group Plc, the UK’s largest steelmaker, jumped amid bid speculation from Tata Steel Ltd. At one point Corus was up an impressive 12 percent at 455 pence per share. Rio Tinto, the number 3 mining company jumped 2.9 percent to 462 pence, as cyclical stocks performed well. Stocks continued to gain after both the BOE announced to keep rates at 4.75% and European stocks were unaffected by the ECB’s decision to raise rates 25 basis points to 3.25%. In fact European benchmarks have recovered from their 2006 lows in June, as Oil prices recently retreated. Aer Lingus soared 12 percent to 2.80 euros after it emerged that Ryainair offered to buy Aer Lingus for 1.48 billion euros in order to expand Irish operations. Index prices at 16:50 GMT FTSE 100 up 30.7 points at 5997.3 CAC 40 up 32.13 points at 5288.68 DAX up 34.53 point at 6080.91 Dow Jones Cash market down 12.81 points at 11837.92 | 
