Arcelor board to meet on June 25 to decide on latest rival proposals
Luxembourg: The board of European steel giant Arcelor will meet on June 25 to decide on the latest rival proposals from Mittal Steel and Russia's Severstal. The statement followed a meeting of the directors to discuss which company offered the best match after Severstal improved the terms of its agreed merger proposal, in order to block Mittal's 23-billion-euro ($29-billion) bid. Shares in Arcelor had been suspended pending the statement from the group after French regulators had asked the company to clarify the state of its merger talks with both groups.

After Severstal's upping its bid, Mittal Steel, owned by Indian-born billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, is expected to improve its own bid. A Mittal spokesman however, said no new proposals were made to Arcelor.

Shares in Arcelor were down 1.07 percent at 35.02 euros in Paris at the time of their suspension. Severstal shares closed down 0.12 percent in Moscow at 281 roubles. Mittal shares ended up 2.68 percent at 26.03 euros, valuing its current offer of 1 new share and 10.05 euros in cash for every Arcelor share at 36.08 euros.
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US stocks zoom on earnings reports
New York: U.S. stocks zoomed on Wednesday as inflation concerns were put aside as investors watched a strong wave of corporate earnings. Investment bank Morgan Stanley more than doubled its second-quarter profit, which helped lift the stocks of other financial services firms. Courier company, FedEx Corp. also beat analysts' expectations with its earnings.

The blue-chip Dow average rose by more than 100 points to a two-week high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed more than 1 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 104.62 points, or 0.95 percent, to end at 11,079.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 12.08 points, or 0.97 percent, to finish at 1,252.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 34.14 points, or 1.62 percent, to close at 2,141.20.

However, stocks in Europe and Japan were flat. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose just 0.34 of a point, or 0.03 percent, to 1,276.47. The Nikkei ended down 4.15 points at 14,644.26.
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