World equity markets slipped from a 20-month high yesterday as Wall Street stocks faltered on a report showing US consumer sentiment at its lowest in over a year in January, while the yen hit new lows ahead of potential asset purchases by the Bank of Japan.
Global shares retreated from earlier gains sparked by data showing economic momentum picking up in China and the US. European shares also slipped as disappointing economic data in the UK dampened sentiment.
DUBLIN
The Dublin market ended eight points or 0.2 per cent lower at 3,480.
The Iseq index of Irish shares finished slightly worse off than its DAX and FTSE counterparts, which both closed up.
DIY and builders’ merchant group Grafton was one of the solid performers of the day, finishing up 2.1 per cent at €4.37. Drinks group CC also ended the day up, climbing 1.45 per cent to close at €4.55.
Clinical research company Icon fell 8.41 per cent to finish at €20.15, while pharmaceutical group Elan was also down, ending the day 1.58 per cent lower at €7.47.
LONDON
Britain’s benchmark share index climbed to its highest level in more than four years yesterday, as investors overlooked domestic economic weakness to snap up mining stocks exposed to the growing Chinese economy.
Technical indicators showed that even though the rally could stall in the near-term, the longer-term picture remained bullish, with many forecasters expecting the blue-chip FTSE 100 index to rise over the course of 2013.
Mining stocks, which account for much of the weighting of the FTSE 100, featured prominently on the leaderboard, with Evraz rising 4.5 per cent to end the day as the best-performing blue-chip stock.
Rio Tinto Group climbed 1.8 per cent following the departure of its chief executive officer on Thursday. Johnson Matthey and Meggitt rose more than 1 per cent as analysts upgraded the shares.
EUROPE
European stocks were little changed this week as better-than-expected economic data from China and the US offset concern that debt-ceiling talks will weigh on recovering growth in the world’s biggest economy. The Stoxx 600 Europe Index fell less than 0.1 per cent to 287.03 this week.
Delhaize rallied 13 per cent as the brand repositioning at its Food Lion supermarkets in the US boosted sales volumes. Group revenue for the three months ended December 31st increased 2.3 per cent to €5.76 billion.
JCDecaux advanced 11 per cent after announcing a contract win. TNT Express tumbled 34 per cent after United Parcel Service abandoned its bid for the company. PostNL, which holds a stake in TNT, retreated 37 per cent.
France’s CAC 40 Index added 1 per cent, while Germany’s DAX Index slipped 0.2 per cent.
US
The Dow and S&P 500 closed at five-year highs yesterday as the market registered a third straight week of gains on a solid start to the quarterly earnings season.
A better-than-expected quarterly profit at Morgan Stanley outweighed weakness at Intel, which slumped 6.3 per cent to $21.25 a day after it forecast quarterly revenue below analysts’ estimates and announced plans for increased capital spending amid slow demand for personal computers.
Morgan Stanley, which reported a fourth-quarter profit after a year-earlier loss, was helped by higher revenue at the bank’s institutional securities business. Its stock jumped 7.4 per cent to $22.29.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 53.68 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 13,576.13 at the close. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 5.04 (0.34 per cent) at 1,485.98, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.29 (0.04 per cent) , at 3,134.71 . –
(Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters)
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