Paddy Power gains 2.8% ahead of trading update

Iseq: 2,663.27 (–31.41) Settlement date: November 18thIT WAS subdued day of trading on equity exchanges as the dour macroeconomic outlook kept investors out of the markets.

The Irish bourse was down 0.7 per cent.

This pushed Bank of Ireland 3.5 per cent lower, despite comments from US investor Wilbur Ross, a recent arrival on its share register with a 9 per cent stake, that more “normalised” funding was required for the bank to pass on ECB interest rate cuts. The share price fell to 8.4 cent.

Building materials group CRH dropped 3.7 per cent, or 50 cent, to €13 a share, reflecting investor concerns about the future of the global economy. One trader reported that buying and selling volumes were down about 25 per cent on average.

Bookmaker Paddy Power offered one of the few bright spots on an overcast day, as the stock rose 2.8 per cent or €1.10 to €40.70 ahead of the company issuing a trading update today.

Ryanair bucked the trend for airlines generally with the share price climbing 0.2 per cent or almost one cent to €3.66 as investors continued to buy up the stock following a road show last week.

Aer Lingus was less fortune, falling 5.3 per cent or almost four cent to just under 72 cent.

European shares and the euro fell again as investors renewed their selling of Italian and Spanish bonds. Italian 10-year bond yields lingered above 7 per cent, a borrowing level regarded as unsustainable.

The yield spreads on French, Austrian and Belgian 10-year bonds over German 10-year bonds reached euro-era highs as fears about the euro zone debt crisis spread further afield. Spain’s 10-year yield rose to 6.3 per cent.

Fears of a default in the euro zone intensified after 17 countries in the currency area grew just 0.2 per cent in the third quarter.