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European share indexes rose on Monday as remarks by executives of Barclays and Deutsche Bank eased fears of losses from the recent credit market turmoil, but utilities fell after news of a big French merger.

Barclays was recovering from a week of bad headlines, denials and late-night statements on Friday, as analysts said there was little substance to the frenzy and few harbored genuine worries over the bank's health.

British bank Barclays has no plans to walk away from the battle for ABN AMRO despite a growing gap between its bid and a competing offer, sources close to the matter said on Wednesday.

Stock index futures fell on Tuesday due to renewed global credit concerns and caution ahead of reports on home prices and consumer confidence. Banking stocks took an early beating after MarketWatch reported that Merrill Lynch had downgraded to neutral from buy investment banks Bear Stearns Cos., Lehman Brothers and Citigroup.

European stocks extended their losses on Friday, losing more than 2 percent as a deepening concern surrounding the U.S. subprime mortgage market continued to hit stocks worldwide and pushed U.S. futures in the red.

Dutch bank ABN AMRO is continuing to hold talks with the Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium which has offered 71 billion euros ($97 billion) for the Netherlands' largest bank in a bidding war with British bank Barclays, the two groups said on Sunday.

Barclays' offer period for Dutch bank ABN AMRO will run until October 4 and the British bank's bid will be declared unconditional if at least 80 percent of ABN shares have been tendered, a filing showed.

Dutch bank ABN AMRO withdrew its recommendation of a takeover by Barclays, leaving it neutral between the British bank's offer and a higher bid from Royal Bank of Scotland's consortium. The Netherlands' biggest bank, the target of a 66 billion-euro ($89.55 billion) offer from Barclays and a 71 billion-euro bid from RBS, Belgium's Fortis and Spain's Santander, also reported a 7.1 percent decline in its second-quarter net profit on Monday.

British bank Barclays raised its bid for Dutch group ABN AMRO to 67.5 billion euros ($93 billion) on Monday, helped by some of the biggest ever overseas investments by China and Singapore. The bid still falls short of a rival $71 billion-euro bid from a group of European banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland.

Britain's Barclays is in talks with the governments of China and Singapore to raise 10 billion pounds ($20.6 billion) to help fund its planned purchase of Dutch bank ABN AMRO, the BBC reported on Monday.

Barclays would make a better merger candidate with ABN AMRO than a bid by a group led by Royal Bank of Scotland aimed at breaking up the Dutch bank, a Dutch newspaper quoted ABN's chief executive as saying on Saturday.

Barclays is planning to sweeten its offer for ABN AMRO after a consortium of rivals led by Royal Bank of Scotland revised its bid for the Dutch bank, the Financial Times said on Tuesday.

The takeover battle for ABN AMRO heated up on Monday with the Royal Bank of Scotland consortium boosting the cash element of its 71.1 billion-euro ($98 billion) offer. The offer is above a rival all-stock bid from Britain's Barclays that is worth about 64 billion euros, which has been recommended by ABN's board.

Dutch bank ABN AMRO can proceed with its sale of U.S. unit LaSalle, the Dutch Supreme Court said, boosting the prospect Barclays will succeed in its near $90 billion takeover bid for ABN.

The Dutch Supreme Court will issue its ruling on ABN AMRO's suspended sale of its U.S. unit LaSalle on Friday and the decision could sway an acrimonious takeover battle for the Dutch bank.

Progress made by Britain's Barclays in its offer for ABN AMRO demonstrates its ability to offer the Dutch bank's shareholders certainty and deliverability, Chief Executive John Varley said on Wednesday.

Dutch Advocate General says ABN can sell its U.S. bank, LaSalle, without a shareholder vote.

Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. home funding company, on Wednesday launched $3.0 billion in new five-year reference notes due Aug. 20, 2012, with pricing expected on Thursday, said joint lead manager JP Morgan.

Santander will sell Spanish property assets for 4 billion euros (2.7 billion pounds) to help fund its participation in a bid for Dutch bank ABN AMRO , an official at the Spanish bank said on Wednesday. The official, confirming a report in El Pais newspaper, said Santander, one of Europe's biggest banks, would make capital gains of 1.4 billion euros from the sales and wanted to go ahead with them even if the ABN deal fell through.

Barclays has drawn up contingency plans for a big cash sweetener to strengthen its all-share offer for Dutch bank ABN AMRO, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Striking workers of Barclays Bank Ghana yesterday resumed work following a resolution of grievances of workers at a meeting between the workers' representatives, the Management in the presence of National Labour Commission (NLC) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

Barclays said on Monday it had agreed to sell part of its vendor finance businesses in Britain and Germany to U.S. commercial finance firm CIT for an undisclosed price.

The battle for the favours of the world's ultra rich is heating up as more banks seek a piece of what they see as the fastest growing sector in the financial industry.

Barclays today announced that it had renewed its global title sponsorship of the Premier League.

South Africa's largest money lender, Absa Group Ltd announced on Thursday that full-year earnings might be lower than 2005's performance, in spite of reported strong first half-year earnings.

UK-based Barclays Bank Plc is looking to develop wealth management in India, where it sees potential in a growing middle class as well as non-residents, two senior executives told Reuters in an interview.