Yen soars as BOJ holds steady, stocks rise modestly

The yen surged on Thursday after the Bank of Japan surprised markets by declining to boost its stimulus, battering Japanese stocks and briefly weighing on markets in the United States and Europe.

The yen surged against the dollar, euro and sterling, putting it on course for its biggest jump against the dollar since February and its biggest gain in five years against the two European currencies.

The BOJ’s move to hold steady in the face of soft global demand and a sharp rise in the yen was particularly jarring for markets after earlier media reports said the bank intended to cut interest rates deeper into negative territory.

DUBLIN

The Iseq fell 0.7 per cent to 6,229. The biggest faller was

Origin Enterprises

, which ended the day 12.5 per cent down at €5.87 after the company reported a disappointing trading performance for the third quarter of its financial year.

Glanbia also saw shares fall 7.5 per cent to €16 marking a disappointing week for the food group, which indicated on Wednesday that revenue had fallen 2.5 per cent on foot of dwindling milk prices.

The group suffered again on Thursday after sports nutrition group GNC, which Glanbia supplies, reported poor-than-expected sales numbers. Food group Kerry was down 1.5 per cent at €77.50.

Bank of Ireland traded up 0.75 per cent at €0.27 after publishing a trading update indicating the volume of non-performing loans fell while new lending increased.

LONDON

Britain’s top share index steadied on Thursday after a rally in miner

Anglo American

, although a drop in financial stocks kept the market under pressure. The FTSE 100 index was flat in percentage terms at 6,322.40 points at its close. The index has been largely flat so far in 2016, but down around 11 per cent from a record high reached in April 2015.

The UK mining sector was up 3.4 per cent, the top sectoral gainer, led higher by an 8 per cent surge in Anglo American.

Financial stocks were the biggest drag on the market knocking around 7 points off the FTSE 100 index, led lower by a 2.9 per cent fall at RBS. Lloyds also fell, down 1.6 per cent after posting underlying profits in line with expectations.

EUROPE

European stocks were little changed as gains in commodity producers helped erase an earlier drop.

ArcelorMittal

jumped more than 6.8 per cent, tracking metal prices higher.

Banking results were also at the fore. Deutsche Bank rose 3.4 per cent after it posted a surprise profit. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria slid 7.1 per cent after its quarterly earnings tumbled 54 per cent.

NEW YORK

US stocks closed down as the Bank of Japan’s call to cap monetary stimulus continued to rattle investors.

The benchmark S&P 500 had its worst day in three weeks, losing 19.26 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 2,075.89. The Dow Jones fell 1.17 per cent and the Nasdaq dropped 1.19 per cent.

Shares in Apple, already suffering from disappointing earnings, took another hit after billionaire investor Carl Icahn said he no longer had a position. The company was last down 3 per cent at $94.87. St Jude Medical jumped 25.5 per cent to $77.79 after Abbott Laboratories said it agreed to buy the medical device maker for $25 billion.

DreamWorks Animation rose 24 per cent at $39.95, after Comcast said it would buy the company for $3.8 billion.

– (Reuters)