LONDON - The FTSE 100 index of Britain's leading shares ended up 0.8 percent, buoyed by take-over talk as investors shrugged off continued security concerns after terminal 4 at London's Heathrow airport was evacuated. The FTSE 100 closed at 6,639.8 points, up 49.2 or 0.75 percent.ROUNDUP:EUROFIRSTEUROPE - European equities set two-week closing highs as mergers and acquisition activity and robust economic growth buoyed global markets.

Banks including BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank figured among the gainers.

Danone rose as much as 4.2 percent as the French food group said it is in exclusive talks to sell its biscuit and cereal unit to Kraft Foods for 5.3 billion euros and analysts expected this to boost Danone's other acquisitions.ROUNDUP:EUROmarketsFRANKFURT - The DAX index ended at 8,050.68 points, up 92.44 or 1.16 percent.

PARIS - The CAC-40 index closed at 6,069.84 points, up 42.89 or 0.71 percent.

ZURICH - The Swiss market index closed at 9,240.31 points, up 47.73 or 0.52 percent.

MILAN - The All Share Mibtel index closed at 33,170 points, up 242 or 0.73 percent.ROUNDUP:nikkei>TOKYO - The Nikkei average scraped to its fourth straight session of gains, adding 0.02 percent as Olympus and other exporters rose after an index of US manufacturing activity hit its highest in more than a year, boosting confidence in Japan's largest export market. The Nikkei finished at 18,149.90, up just 3.60 points.ROUNDUP:hang sengHONG KONG - Hong Kong blue chips hit a record, buoyed by strong gains on Wall Street and Shanghai, and fuelled by high hopes for an influx of mainland funds after a top Chinese bank said it would launch a second fund to pour client money into the city's equity market. The Hang Seng Index ended up 378.41 points at 22,151.14.ROUNDUP:asx<.5b0>SYDNEY - Australian shares rose 0.6 percent to a one-week closing high, drawing strength from a surge on Wall Street, with resource firms leading the rise on firmer base metal and oil prices. The S&P/ASX 200 index added 35.7 points to end at 6,299.0.ROUNDUP:south africaJOHANNESBURG - South African shares rose as index heavyweight Anglo American gained with big funds switching to the stock from its separately listed paper unit Mondi — the biggest faller on the day. The All-share index closed at 28,755.03 points, up 51.9 or 0.18 percent. The All Gold index closed at 2,470.99 points, down 13.28 or 0.53 percent, while the Industrial index closed at 19,526.4 points, down 31.43 or 0.16 percent.