Euro zone's blue chip index advances Iseq finishes session up 0.6% as DCC agrees BP acquisition

Eurostoxx 50: 2,577.08 (+0.94%) Paris CAC: 3,530.72 (+0.59%) Frankfurt DAX: 7,451.62 (+0.84%)THE DUBLIN market performed as well as its continental European peers and bettered the performance of its counterpart in London yesterday.

The Iseq index finished the day up 0.6 per cent, having climbed steadily all week. It closed at 3,343.55, having opened the week at 3,303.13.

The euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index was up 0.5 per cent. The index has surged 18 per cent over the past two months, boosted by the European Central Bank’s plan to buy sovereign bonds to lower the borrowing costs of debt-stricken euro zone countries, as well as the US Federal Reserve’s stimulus measures.

DUBLIN

ENERGY AND distribution specialist DCC announced that it has agreed to buy BP’s liquefied petroleum gas distribution business in the Netherlands and Belgium in a deal worth €24.5 million.

The deal is expected to close later this year, provided it gets the go ahead from competition regulators in the Netherlands.

The move expands DCC’s business in the Benelux region and comes only weeks after it announced it would buy BP’s LPG business in Britain. DCC advanced 0.22 per cent, to close at €22.

Ryanair held its AGM in the Airport Radisson Hotel in Dublin, where chief executive Michael O’Leary reiterated the company’s full-year outlook. He also said he was confident the bid for Aer Lingus would pass any competition concerns. Ryanair closed at €4.46, a fall of 0.38 per cent. Aer Lingus closed at €1.04, a rise of 1.75 per cent.

The sharpest drop yesterday was with Independent News and Media, which finished at €0.13, a fall of 7.53 per cent.

Builders suppliers and DIY group Grafton was the best performer of the day, closing up 3.94 per cent, at €3.43.

Market heavyweight CRH rose by 0.77 per cent, to close the week at €15.65.

LONDON

THE FTSE 100 Index closed little changed, capping the benchmark gauge’s first weekly decline this month.

Xstrata and Glencore International fell as the companies requested a one-week extension for directors to decide on the commodity trader’s $35 billion takeover offer.

Vedanta Resources and Evraz paced advancing shares as metal prices climbed. Pearson rose the most in five months after Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the publisher.

Vodafone added 2 per cent to 178.45p after Barclays increased its share-price target to 200p from 195p and reiterated a buy recommendation.

CPP, a UK company that provides protection against credit-card and identity theft, plunged 20 per cent to 19½p, the lowest since its initial public offering in March 2010. CPP is seeking to reorganize itself through a “scheme of arrangement” process to enable it to meet probable compensation claims of tens of millions of pounds from customers who may have been mis-sold products, Sky news reported on its website.

EUROPE

EUROPEAN STOCKS rose to a one-week high after a report indicated that policymakers will next week unveil an economic reform plan for Spain that will allow the country to seek a bailout.

Spanish economy minister Luis de Guindos is in talks with European Commission authorities to facilitate a new bailout programme that will be presented on September 27th, reported the Financial Times, citing sources involved in the discussions.

The yield on Spains 10-year bonds fell two points this week to 5.76 per cent. It rose above the 6 per cent mark in intraday trading earlier in the week.

Novo Nordisk climbed 1.3 per cent to 917 kroner after UBS raised the rating on the shares to buy from neutral.

Devgen NV soared 69 per cent to €15.89, the biggest rally since it sold shares to the public in June 2005, after Syngenta AG offered to buy the company for €16 per share – representing a 70 per cent-premium to the €9.43 closing price.

Mediobanca SpA, Italy’s biggest publicly-traded investment bank, gained 3.3 per cent to €4.21 after UBS AG raised its share-price target to €4.10 from €3.50 and kept a neutral rating.

US

PHONE SHARES, tech and healthcare stocks had the biggest gains among 10 groups in the SP 500.

Apple added 0.7 per cent to $703.43. The company may not be able to keep up with demand as customers lined up in Sydney, Tokyo, Paris and New York to pick up the latest model of its best-selling product.

Sprint Nextel jumped 4.2 per cent to $5.67, while ATT rallied 1.2 per cent to $38.40.

An index of homebuilder stocks rose for third day, gaining 3 per cent. KB Home, the LA-based homebuilder that targets first-time buyers, rose 18 per cent to $15.52 after reporting a profit for the third quarter. It benefited from tax and insurance-related gains, as well as higher sales amid a US housing market recovery. – (Additional reporting Bloomberg).