European stocks climb after Wall Street hits new highs

European stock markets rose Tuesday, as investors reacted to upbeatcompany results, takeover speculation and another record-breaking run on WallStreet, dealers said.London's benchmark FTSE 100 index added 0.10 percent to 6,858.40 pointsapproaching midday in the British capital.Frankfurt's DAX 30 won 0.70 percent to 9,770.79 points, despite news of fallinginvestor sentiment in Germany.In Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.27 percent to 4,505.62 compared with Monday's closingvalue, with Airbus Group flying high on news of rocketing quarterly profits."The FTSE 100 is ... higher, emboldened by the US markets once again setting newhighs," said Alastair McCaig at trading firm IG.All three main European indices also climbed on Monday as investors shrugged offconcerns about the Ukraine-Russia crisis following disputed referendums lastweekend- Markets look beyond Ukraine -"Investors continue to look beyond the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine andinstead focus on the improving economic data and reports of more merger andacquisition activity," added Alpari analyst Craig Erlam.Markets digested reports that US telecoms giant AT&T is prepared to acquiresatellite TV provider DirecTV in a deal that values it at nearly $50 billion.Talks are at an advanced stage and a deal could be announced in two weeks or evenearlier, the Wall Street Journal said Tuesday quoting people close to the deal.Wall Street surged Monday to all-time highs as dealers raced back into technologyshares after a recent sell-off that saw household names like Twitter and Netflix tumble.New York's Dow and S&P 500 closed at fresh record peaks on Monday, spurred by astrong rally in technology stocks that lifted the Nasdaq Composite Index by nearly1.8 percent.The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.68 percent to end at 16,695.47 points,while the S&P 500 gained 0.97 percent to 1,896.65.- Global growth outlook brightens "The ongoing improvement in global investor risk sentiment isbeingsupportedbythestrengthening economic growth outlook in the advanced economies with the USeconomy rebounding strongly after the sharp slowdown in the first quarter of theyear, and the economic recovery in Europe continuing to gain upward momentum,"said economist Lee Hardman at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in London.Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday following another record close on Wall Street,with Japan's Nikkei boosted by a weakening yen and Indian shares surging on anexpected clear win for Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi in general elections.Tokyo jumped 1.95 percent, Sydney rose 0.91 percent, Hong Kong added 0.41 percentand in late trade Mumbai's Sensex was up 1.55 percent.Back in Europe, Airbus Group flew to the top of the Paris market after the aircraftmaker posted a near-doubling of net profit in the first quarter.Earnings after taxation rocketed 93 percent to 439 million euros ($604.5 million),compared with the same part of the previous year, the company said in a resultsstatement. In reaction, Airbus saw its share price surge 6.32 percent to 52.62 euros.Back in London, shares in AstraZeneca rallied 1.19 percent to 4,635 pence after Pfizerhinted that it may raise its $106-billion takeover bid for the British drug giant.In Paris, shares in Renault rose 2.2 percent to 68.29 euros after its Japanese allyNissan reported a 14 percent gain in net profit last year on a 20 percent increase insales.Shares in French media company Lagardere dropped 2.8 percent however to 24.11euros after it reported falling sales in the first quarter of this year.In foreign exchange Tuesday, the euro dropped to $1.3745 from $1.3758 late in NewYork on Monday.The price of gold reversed to $1,292.88 an ounce on the London Bullion Market from$1,298.75 on Monday.