European stock markets rose this afternoon as chief UN weapons inspector Mr Hans Blix gave an eagerly awaited report to the Security Council on the state of arms inspections in Iraq.
Across the 12-nation euro zone, the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 index rose from 2,163.95 points before Mr Blix's speech to 2,178.26 points at 3.41 p.m. (Irish Time).
In Dublin at 4 p.m. the ISEQ index was ahead slightly on 3,883, a gain of 12.78 points.
In London, the FTSE 100 index rose from 3,616.50 points to 3,618.10 points, in Frankfurt the DAX increased 2,616.77 points to 2,640.39 points, and in Paris the CAC 40 rose from 2,791.89 points to 2,808.52 points.
Compared to yesterday's day's closing levels, the Euro Stoxx 50 showed a gain of 1.9 per cent, the FTSE 100 was up 0.20 per cent, the DAX climbed 3.33 per cent, and the CAC 40 advanced 1.81 per cent.
Mr Blix told the council there was no evidence that Iraq has had advance warning of UN inspections, but also announced a ban on Iraq's Al-Samoud 2 missile system, saying it exceeded its restricted range.
He also said Iraq had not accounted for "many" banned arms, calling it a matter of "great significance."
He added that the period of time needed to disarm Iraq through inspections could still be short as long as Baghdad cooperates effectively.
In New York the Dow Jones opened in positive territory and remained there after Mr Blix concluded his speech. At 4.03 p.m. (Irish Time) the market was ahead 107.57 points on 7857.44 The tech-heavy was also in positive territory after the speech, up 20 points at 1297.45.
AFP