Wall Street shares closed higher Friday as investors continued the prior session's record rally after the release of in-line earnings from General Electric. Sentiment was also boosted by a Reuters and University of Michigan survey showing that consumer sentiment rebounded in early July, as rising stock prices and falling gasoline prices brightened the outlook.

The Dow closed up 45.52 or 0.3 per cent at 13,907.25, a new record closing level, while the S&P 500 ended 4.80 or 0.3 per cent higher at 1,552.50, also a record closing high. The Nasdaq finished up 5.27 or 0.2 per cent at 2,707.

The biggest gainer on the Dow was Alcoa, which rose 4.4 per cent after announcing late Thursday that it will withdraw its bid for Alcan in light of Rio Tinto's higher acquisition offer. Alcoa is widely expected to become the centre of a bidding war. Shares in Alcan dipped 1 per cent.

Meanwhile, shares of fellow blue chip General Electric rose 1.8 per cent. The conglomerate reported in-line earnings and also announced that it is exiting its US subprime mortgage business.

In the energy sector, Chesapeake Energy Corp and Anadarko Petroleum rose 2.7 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively after the two firms entered multiple agreements, including a joint drilling venture in West Texas.

NYMEX crude oil for August delivery finished up US$1.43 at US$73.93 a barrel.

Elsewhere, Energizer Holdings said it agreed to acquire Playtex Products for about US$1.16 billion. Playtex surged 16 per cent, while Energizer rose 0.9 per cent amid enthusiasm over the deal.

In other corporate news, Amgen rose 1.7 per cent after the biotechnology company increased its stock repurchase program by US$5 billion, adding to the US$1.5 billion already earmarked for buybacks under a previous plan.

RadioShack fell 6.5 per cent after an analyst predicted sales growth would prove elusive.

Idenix Pharmaceuticals plunged 38 per cent after drug regulators suspended clinical study of the biopharmaceutical company's hepatitis C drug because results so far have not merited potential risks of the treatment.

COMEX gold for August delivery fell US$1 to close at US$667.30 an ounce.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Britain's key share index closed higher on Friday after hitting a near seven-year high. Investors picked up financial stocks, which received a lift from the takeover battle for Dutch bank ABN AMRO.

In the banking sector, Barclays advanced 0.8 per cent as it became the more likely suitor to take over ABN after the Dutch supreme court ruled the Dutch bank could go ahead with the sale of its LaSalle unit to Bank of America.

Royal Bank of Scotland, which leads a consortium that has made a rival 71 billion euro bid, climbed 0.9 per cent.

The big miners were mostly weaker after being buoyed by Rio Tinto's US$38.1 billion takeover of Canadian aluminium producer Alcan in the previous session. Rio shed 2.1 per cent.

BHP Billiton also lost 1.7 per cent as speculation swirled that it could go after Alcoa after the company withdrew its offer for Alcan.

Man Group was among the top gainers, rising 2.8 per cent after the world's largest listed hedge fund said its assets under management rose to US$67 billion at the end of June and that it was upbeat on prospects.

The FTSE 100 ended up 19 or 0.28 per cent at 6,716.7.

Across the channel, Parisian share prices closed slightly higher helped by a fresh high on the Dow in New York. Stocks in Frankfurt rose for a second day, sending the benchmark DAX into record territory.

In France, insurance group Axa and property group Unibail-Rodamco both added around 1.8 per cent to book the biggest gains on the CAC.

In Germany, BASF jumped 1.9 per cent after a broker lifted its estimate on the stock price to 105 euros from 92 euros.

The French CAC-40 finished up 14.91 or 0.24 per cent at 6,117.96, while the German DAX-30 added 39.34 or 0.5 per cent to 8092.77.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei average climbed on Friday, led by high-tech stocks following the jump on the Nasdaq.

Tokyo Electron climbed 3.2 per cent after Samsung Electronics forecast prices of computer memory to rebound in July-September, fuelling expectations that the world's biggest chip maker would continue to buy chip-making equipment.

The Nikkei closed up 254.81 or 1.42 per cent at 18,238.95.

Hong Kong share prices closed sharply higher, with the main index breaking the 23,000 points level for the first time, helped by continued gains in heavyweight China Mobile.

China Mobile, which led the market on Thursday after target price upgrades by several broking houses, closed up 3.3 per cent.

The Hang Seng closed up 290.27 or 1.27 per cent at 23,099.29.

The Overnight MarketWatch report is provided by SHAW Stockbroking's egoli - simple but informative market news for the everyday investor.

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