8:00 AM European averages traded higher at mid-day.
European markets advanced at mid-day dealings, boosted by higher close on Wall Street and strong mining stocks. Merger-and-acquisition news was also a key driver for the stocks. U.K. lender Alliance & Leicester rose 3.4% after it rejected a $10.1 billion offer from French bank Credit Agricole. However, London Stock Exchange dropped 8.6% after the Nasdaq withdrew its $4.2 billion bid for the company. The German DAX 30 rose 0.5%, the French CAC 40 climbed 0.6%, and London FTSE 100 surged 0.7%.


7:45AM Asian markets finished largely higher. Japan hit a new high.
Asian-Pacific benchmarks finished broadly higher, following a rally in U.S. stocks. The Nikkei hit a new high, crossing the 17,000-point level for the first time in almost six years. The Japanese index rose 0.6% to 17,045.34 strongly supported by technology stocks like Tokyo Electron, up 1.8% and Kyocera, up 1.1%. The banking sector also contributed to the advance, helped by an upbeat report from Goldman Sachs Group which raised its profit estimates for 8 banks to a total of $28.8 billion. Among gainers Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gained 4.1% and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance rose 2.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.9%, taking a cue from U.S. and Japanese gains, Taiwan Weighted index rose 0.7% on tech stocks, while China Shanghai Composite fell 0.8%, dragged by profit taking in the property and metals sectors.