Hopes for Greek deal spurs Wall Street

Wall Street moved higher on optimism that an agreement was on the horizon surrounding Greek debt and data pointed to renewed vigour in the US economy. German debt yields climbed after comments from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi concerning euro zone inflation. Treasuries fell as a rout in global bonds resumed after Mr Draghi’s comments.

DUBLIN

The Iseq index closed at 6,185.33, a rise of 0.24 per cent, which did not compare well with the German Dax or French Cac, both of which rose by more than 1 per cent.

Market heavyweight CRH did a lot better than the index, rising by 2.39 per cent, to close at €25.27.

Other stocks that did well included Datalex, which rose 2.16 per cent to €1.89, Ryanair, which rose 1.22 per cent to €11.64, and ICG, which rose 1.59 per cent to €4.16.

Among the stocks that lost value were Aryzta, which fell 5.89 per cent to €49.50, and Smurfit Kappa, which fell 0.93 per cent, to €26.65.

LONDON

London’s top share index gained ground as a supermarket share rally offset disappointing data from the powerhouse services sector.

The FTSE 100 Index rose 22.2 points to 6950.5 despite figures showing Britain’s dominant services sector suffered its sharpest slowdown in growth for nearly four years in May.

Supermarkets were higher as analysts digested data from Kantar Worldpanel, which said food deflation narrowed to 1.9 per cent in a reversal of the previous trend which had seen the rate deepen to 2.1 per cent.

Morrisons, the only one of the "big four" supermarkets to post a sales rise in the Kantar data, was near the top of the FTSE 100 risers' board as shares climbed another 3 per cent, or 5.6p, to 178.1p.

Sainsbury's showed a narrow decline in sales but also benefited from the positive sentiment, with shares up 2 per cent, or 4.7p, at 249.8p. Tesco, which saw sales fall 1.3 per cent, saw a boost too, with the stock climbing 3p to 210.4p.

Online grocer Ocado was another beneficiary in the FTSE 250, up 5 per cent or 16.3p to 371.3p.

Carphone Warehouse and Currys PC World owner Dixons Carphone was in focus as a trading update showed better than expected sales and prompted a profit upgrade from the group, but shares slipped after a recent strong run, down 4.5p to 474.8p.

EUROPE

European stocks were little changed as investors weighed the prospects of success in Greece’s debt talks.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1 per cent to 395.93 at the close of trading. The Greek ASE Index added 4.1 per cent, for the best performance of the western European markets, and its biggest rally in more than a month.

The ECB kept interest rates on hold at record lows as data signalled that the risk of deflation in the euro area is waning.

Royal Ahold gained 5.9 per cent and Delhaize Group climbed 7.4 per cent after sources said merger talks between the retailers were progressing.

NEW YORK

U

S stocks were higher in early afternoon trading on optimism that Greece was close to an agreement to avoid a default and as domestic data suggested a rebound in the economy.

The strong employment report pushed US benchmark Treasury debt yields to their highest since November. That weighed on utilities and other dividend-paying shares, which tend to compete with bonds as investments.

CH Robinson jumped 5.2 per cent to $64.44, helping the Dow Jones transportation index gain 1.1 per cent and recover from a recent spell of weakness.

Synchronoss Technologies' shares jumped 18.8 per cent to $50.54 after the Wall Street Journal said the software maker was working on a possible sale that could be valued at more than $2 billion. – (Additional reporting: agencies)