Carrefour, the French retailer, was up 2.6% after two investment groups announced they had jointly acquired 9.1% of the company. Groupe Arnault and Colony Capital said the move was a long-term strategic and industrial investment.

The retail sector was boosted by the development and domestic rival Casino Guichard rose 3.4%, while Metro of Germany climbed 2.6%. Bid speculation lifted Dutch bank ABN Amro 1.5% as an increasing chorus of hedge fund investors suggested the bank would deliver better shareholder returns if it merged with another large group.

Volkswagen, the German carmaker, is a step closer to its hope of integrating the European truckmaking sector after it raised its stake in Sweden’s Scania to just over 20% of share capital and 35% of voting rights. Shares in Volkswagen gained 1.5 %, while Scania added 1% and MAN gained 2.7%.

Decliners

Vallourec, the French maker of steel tubes, fell 5.2% after its 2006 net profit fell shy of market expectations. A number of heavily-weighted British banks which went ex-dividend capped gains. Lloyds TSB fell 3.8%, Barclays lost 2% and Royal Bank of Scotland shed 2.2%.

Oil and gold

Crude oil advanced on speculation that greater gasoline demand in the U.S. will cause inventories to drop as the summer driving season approaches. Crude oil for April delivery rose as much as 33 cents, or 0.5%, to $61.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $60.90 in early trade in London. Brent crude gained 55 cents, or 0.9%, to $61.94 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange and traded at $61.79 in London. Gold traded in London at $646.35 per troy ounce, up from $641.60 late Tuesday.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar was lower against other major currencies in European trading Wednesday morning. The euro traded at $1.3125, up from $1.3121 late Tuesday in New York. The British pound traded at $1.9300, up from $1.9292. The dollar bought 116.44 Japanese yen, down from 116.67.