Frankfurt DAX: 5718.71 (+63.96)

German shares climbed strongly in electronic trade buoyed by Wall Street, although trading was meagre with few fresh factors to give direction. The Xetra Dax index ended about 1.7 per cent higher in later electronic trade, comfortably above the key 5,700point threshold.

Paris CAC-40: 4065.04 (+46.40)

Record volumes were traded in Paris, on the last day of the June bourse month, with Wall Street pushing ahead to help the market to a strong first-half showing. The CAC-40 index moved up 1.15 per cent, clearly above the 4,000 threshold it broke down through in the recent Asia-inspired correction.

Milan Mibtel: 22617 (+204)

The Milan bourse made solid gains in late trade to end higher yesterday after positive comments from the opposition UDR party about voting for NATO enlargement in Italy's lower house reduced fears of a government crisis. Gains on Wall Street also gave the Milan bourse an added boost in thin trade. The Mibtel all-share index ended up 0.91 per cent, at 22,617.