World markets rise as China seeks to avoid hard economic landing

World stocks rose to near five-year highs yesterday, boosted by news that China was moving to support its cooling economy, while the dollar fell to one-month lows.
DUBLIN
The Iseq began strongly but steadily grew weaker as trading progressed, eventually losing 0.6 per cent.

Ryanair in particular fell by 3 per cent, a close largely attributed to a note from HSBC on airlines which avoided the Irish carrier but downgraded EasyJet, a move which affected industry stocks in general.

C&C also performed badly, finishing as the low of the day with stock falling below €4.10, where it had been moving at up to €4.15.

Providence fell 2.7 per cent following an announcement on Monday that its partner ExxonMobil had no further plans to drill at its Dunquin site in off the southwest coast.

Total Produce gained 2.3 per cent and over 70 cents, an increase probably precipitated by a Davy Stockbrokers note recommending its upgrade.
LONDON
UK stocks fell for a third day with notable declines at Tullow Oil and EasyJet. Tullow tumbled 6.6 per cent after the energy explorer failed to find commercial quantities of crude or gas at two wells in Mozambique and French Guiana.

EasyJet sank 3.7 per cent as HSBC Holdings cut its recommendation on the discount airline to neutral from overweight. Imagination Technologies plunged 11 per cent to 250.7 pence, the lowest price in three years.

Beazley slid 7 per cent to 225.7 pence. The Lloyds of London insurer posted a 27 per cent decline in first-half pre-tax profit as returns from bond investments declined.

Premier Foods rallied 6.2 per cent to 90.25 pence.
EUROPE
European stocks declined from a seven-week high as a measure of US manufacturing unexpectedly slumped.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.3 per cent to 299.44 at the close of trading, erasing an earlier gain of as much as 0.5 per cent.

The volume of shares changing hands in companies listed on the Stoxx 600 was 7.5 per cent lower than the average of the last 30 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

National indexes rose in 10 of the 18 western-European markets. France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.4 per cent while Germany’s DAX fell 0.2 per cent.

Sulzer plunged 14 per cent to 142.50 Swiss francs; the pump maker said it expected full-year profitability to decline rather than increase.

STMicroelectronics slid 11 per cent to €6.73, its biggest drop since April 2012. Intel's biggest competitor in Europe reported a seventh consecutive quarter of losses.

KPN added 2.8 per cent to €1.85 after the Dutch company agreed to sell its E-Plus mobile-phone business for €5 billion to Telefonica's German unit.
NEW YORK
Stocks fluctuated, after the Standard and Poor's 500 Index extended a record yesterday, as investors weighed disappointing manufacturing data.

The S&P 500 declined 0.1 per cent by midday in New York and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.09 per cent. Trading in S&P stocks was 2.9 per cent above the 30-day average.

Book Value Travelers, the second-largest US commercial insurer, dropped 3.6 per cent to $82.39 for the biggest retreat in the Dow. Waters slipped 5.8 per cent to $99.33. The maker of laboratory products and instruments cut its full-year earnings forecast to a range of $5 to $5.10 a share.

Netflix slumped 5 per cent to $248.84 after saying it added 630,000 new US customers for its internet TV service in the second quarter, fewer than the average analyst projection of 700,000.

Lockheed Martin added 2.2 per cent to $118.19. The world's largest defence contractor raised its full-year profit forecast as it reported second-quarter earnings that beat analysts' estimates.