Strong earnings boost European shares

The Irish index of shares rose this morning, lifted by strength in financial and construction stocks, as strong earnings helped lift European shares to a 29-month high today.

By about 1.15pm, the Iseq index of shares was up 28 points to 3014. AIB led the rise, gaining 12.3 per cent to 28.4 cent, while Irish Life and Permanent added 7.4 per cent to trade at 97 cent. Bank of Ireland gained 3.6 per cent to 39.8 cent.

A new report this morning showed rents in Ireland fell just over half a per cent last year. This compares to 15 per cent drop in 2009, according to property website Daft.ie.

Analysts described it as "a rare piece of good news for the bruised local property sector".

"Irish house prices have lost over half their value in some areas from the heady days of 2007 when a property bubble was at its height. The market crash precipitated the country's financial crisis which resulted in an EU/IMF bailout last year," Bloxham analysts said in a note today.

"Homeowners, banks and investors are anxious for a sign of stabilisation in prices and the possibility of stable rents could signal that the worst is over."

Grafton Group, meanwhile, added 4.1 per cent to trade art €3.65, while Abbey rose 3.5 per cent up at €5.38. New figures from Bellway this morning showed group sales increased by 3.8 per cent in the first half of its fiscal year. Average sale price was up 8 per cent to £168,000 for the period, in some positive news for the market.

Shares in Aer Lingus were up 1.3 per cent by 1.15pm, trading at €1.07. The company announced traffic figures this morning that were 17 per cent lower than January last year, with the number of passengers actually carried down 4 per cent due to disruption caused by the weather and an industrial dispute by cabin crew. Aer Lingus resolved the dispute on Friday.

At 1135 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.9 per cent at 1,175.20 points, having touched 1,177.93 - the highest level since early September 2008. The European benchmark is up more than 82 per cent from a record low in March 2009, with several major economies having emerged from recession, helped by stimulus from governments and central banks worldwide.

Yet it has regained barely half the ground lost in falling from a peak in 2007 to that 2009 low.

"There's an absence of bad news and markets can climb the wall of worry," said Andy Lynch, fund manager at Schroders. "People are saying Europe is going to sort itself out, with work going on in the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility)."

Randgold Resources rose 2.9 per cent after posting a 43 per cent rise in full-year profit and announcing plans to increase its dividend by 18 per cent, after gold price gains more than offset a fall in production.

Other miners to rise included Rio Tinto, Vedanta and Xstrata, up between 2 and 4 per cent, as copper reached a record high.

Miners such as Xstrata, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are expected to post strong results over the next two weeks, boosted by surging iron ore and copper prices.

The energy sector rose as North Sea Brent crude oil futures jumped above $100 a barrel on worries unrest in Egypt could spread in the Middle East and north Africa, disrupting supplies.

BP and Royal Dutch Shell rose 1.3 and 1.4 per cent respectively.

SolarWorld soared 10 per cent after posting a 2010 operating profit above expectations and proposing a higher dividend, boosting its shares.

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC40 rose between 0.7 and 1 per cent.

Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones by volume, rose 2.7 percent after a report over the weekend that it planned a management shake-up and would unveil financial and strategy targets this week.

French bank Credit Agricole rose 4.4 per cent on a report it would not need to raise extra cash to help it meet Basel III capital adequacy rules.

France's two biggest banks, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, rose 2.4 and 1.7 per cent respectively.

An index tracking investor sentiment in the euro zone surged to a three-and-a-half year high in February, according to a survey published by the Sentix research group.

However, German industrial orders fell 3.4 percent on the month in December, held back by weak demand for capital goods, though the overall upwards trend in orders remained intact, the Economy Ministry said.

Additional reporting: Reuters