21.   But scattered buying of technology blue chips Hitachi, NEC and NTT DoCoMo and megabanks Mizuho Holdings and UFJ helped lift the index into positive territory for the close.

22.   Buy orders from Japanese investment trusts lifted the indexes, dealers said.

23.   In Frankfurt, the top DAX gainer was tour operator Preussag, while gains in the heavily-weighted finance sector helped lift the index.

24.   In Germany, a sharp gain in Siemens shares along with selected financial stocks lifted the index.

25.   On the stock market, the Nikkei index was lifted by knock-on buying following gains on Wall Street on Tuesday.

26.   The major U.S. stock indexes were lifted higher by blue-chip issues.

27.   They said slective buying of blue chips late in the session lifted the index slightly higher.

28.   A rebound in state-run cement firm Semen Gresik, following recent sharp losses, helped lift the index into positive territory, he added.

29.   Continued bargain-hunting in Gudang Garam also lifted the index, although some profit-taking is expected to kick in Thursday.

30.   Continued buying by brokerage dealers and financial institutions on the back of improved sentiment lifted the index, brokers said.