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5.15pm Markets Update

European stocks closed higher, led by gains in mining, telecoms and oil companies as the  price of Brent crude rose to an 11-month high.

London's FTSE closed up 23 points at 6,713, led by mining stocks such as Kazakhmys, which jumped 4%. Mobile group Vodafone also added 2% to 166p. Frankfurt gained 0.4% but Paris ended only marginally higher.

In Dublin, the ISEQ closed down 18 at 9,433, with continuing weakness in bank stocks amid more signs of a housing slowdown. Bank of Ireland was down 24 cent to €15.02, while drinks group C&C fell 30 to €10 as the bad weather continued. But house builder Abbey added 12 to €10.12 ahead of results later this week.

On Wall Street, US markets made modest gains ahead of a flurry of second quarter company results later in the week. The Dow Jones added 22 to 13,633 while the Nasdaq was flat at 2,667. Earlier, Japanese share prices closed at a fresh seven-year high, helped by a weaker yen which boosted exporters. The Nikkei-225 index climbed 121 points to 18,262.