UK Markets close in 7 hrs 58 mins

NORWEGIAN STOCKS-Norwegian Air shares soar on report of Lufthansa contact

OSLO, June 18 (Reuters) - * Norwegian shares traded down on Monday * Oslo's benchmark index fell -0.81 pct, or -7.24 points, to 888.16 points and was up by 9.94 pct year-to-date * The broader Oslo All Share Index was down 0.74 percent * Brent crude futures, a trigger for the oil heavy Oslo Bourse, rose $0.82 to $74.26 a barrel * Among the biggest firms on the Oslo Bourse, Equinor fell -0.79 pct, Telenor (LSE: 0G8C.L - news) fell -1.08 pct and DNB (Stockholm: 1026758.ST - news) fell -0.44 pct * Turnover at the Oslo Bourse was 3 billion Norwegian crowns. * Norwegian Air was the biggest gainer, trading up 9.45 pct, after the CEO of peer Lufthansa (Xetra: LHAB.DE - news) said it was in contact with the firm, the subject of bid interest from British Airways owner IAG * Other top gainers: Bergenbio ASA 4.14 pct and Frontline Ltd (LSE: 0REH.L - news) 3.86 pct * Biggest losers: Funcom NV -4.02 pct, Targovax ASA (Oslo: TRVX.OL - news) -3.75 pct and Nordic Nanovector ASA (LSE: 0R6Y.L - news) -2.76 pct * Abroad European shares fell -1.02 pct, Japan's main share index Nikkei ended down -0.75 pct, while in China Shanghai index was down -0.70 pct and Dow Jones index in the United States -0.96 pct on Monday (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik)