[R]6:30AM European market gain Wednesday on strength in banking stocks, insurers.[/R]

European markets advanced on Wednesday morning. The German DAX index rose 0.9% to 8,100,66 after striking a seven-year high of 8,104.39 early in the session, while the French CAC-40 index advanced 0.5% to 6,099.46. The U.K. FTSE 100 index climbed 0.5% to 6,682.50. National benchmarks advanced in all of the 17 western European markets that were open.

Advancers

Car maker Renault gained %, while Allianz of Germany advanced 2.6%. HSBC gained 1.1 %. Lower bond yields increase the value of debt owned by insurers and banks. Clariant, the world''s second-largest maker of specialty chemicals, climbed 2.2%
Misys, a U.K. provider of software for banks and hospitals, rose 3% after the company reported fiscal 2007 earnings and margins topping estimates..

Decliners

Swedish clothing chain H&M slipped 4% after it reported that second-quarter sales and profits just missed expectations. Still, the shares have been trading strongly in the past few years and touched a 10- year high in April.

DSG International, the operator of electronics retailers under the PC World and Currys names, announced annual adjusted profit before tax dropped 5% to 295.1 million pounds, in line with estimates the company gave in May, while sales rose 14% to 7.93 billion pounds.

Commodities

Oil prices declined Wednesday on caution that a U.S. fuel supplies report due later in the session will show increases in oil product inventories but a fall in crude oil stocks. Crude oil for July delivery, which expires later Wednesday, lost 15 cents to $68.95 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold fell for the first time in a week as a decline in the price of oil diminished the appeal of the precious metal. Gold declined $1.80, or 0.3%, to $659.65 an ounce, the first drop since June 12. Silver fell 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $13.31 an ounce.

Currencies

The euro traded higher against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday despite a new report that showed producer prices in Germany advanced last month. In morning European trading, the euro bought $1.3423, up from $1.3406 in New York late Tuesday. The Japanese yen fell to 123.23 yen from its level Tuesday of 123.35 yen. The British pound edged lower to $1.9878 from $1.9879 on Monday.