Weak markets stage rally based on positive data

Markets in Europe had a weak opening yesterday primarily because of overnight sell-offs in Asia, but rallied a bit during the day taking comfort from some positive macro indicators. Volumes in Dublin were low for the second day running.

DUBLIN
The Iseq closed the day down 0.12 per cent, a credible performance given the direction the index took earlier in the day. The most traded stocks were CRH, Bank of Ireland, Smurfit, Ryanair and Kerry.

The latest troika memorandum said bank stress tests would take place in the first half of next year. One interpretation of this is that the uncertainty over Bank of Ireland's requirements is being extended, said one trader, and this may in part explain the stock's fall of 2.48 per cent to €0.15.

Continuing uncertainty over the takeover of Elan, including warnings that Royalty Pharma might walk away, seemed to depress the stock's price, which closed at €9.29, a fall of 5.17 per cent.

C&C's price took a sudden move upwards late yesterday, to close at €4.75, a rise of 6.98 per cent. Traders were unclear what explained the move.

LONDON
Royal Bank of Scotland sunk into the red as the shock departure of chief executive Stephen Hester and another 2,000 job cuts raised fears over the lender. The bank pulled back from earlier hefty share losses, but remained 3 per cent lower as Shore Capital cut its rating on RBS from hold to sell.

However, the wider FTSE 100 index broke its recent losing streak – up 5.2 points at 6304.6 – thanks to early session gains on Wall Street as better-than-expected US retail sales and jobless claims helped soothe concerns.

RBS shares moved further away from the UK government’s estimated 502p break-even level with a 10.6p fall to 315p.

The extent of RBS's share price fall was not mirrored in the wider banking sector, with fellow part-nationalised bank Lloyds Banking Group 1p higher at 61.3p.

In the FTSE 250 index, Home Retail Group was 9 per cent lower on worries over weaker profit margins at catalogue chain Argos and DIY business Homebase. Shares fell 14.4p to 129.7p.

Retailer WH Smith fell 2 per cent after it said like-for-like sales in the 14 weeks to June 8th slid 6 per cent against the same period a year earlier, when erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey boosted book sales. The stock fell 17p to 714p.

EUROPE
The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index ended 0.18 per cent lower at 2,661.71 points. France's CAC 40 rose 0.1 per cent, while Germany's DAX lost 0.6 per cent.

Among the top gainers were French bank BNP Paribas, up 1.6 per cent, and Italian lender UniCredit, up 2.5 per cent.

ThyssenKrupp, Germany's biggest steelmaker, led losses on the DAX, dropping 3.8 per cent. Heidelberg Cement, the world's third largest maker of cement, declined 2.6 per cent on concern building-materials companies will suffer from a depreciation in emerging-markets currencies.

NEW YORK
US stocks gained in early trading, ending a three- day decline in the Standard and Poor's 500 index, amid better-than-forecast economic data and acquisitions in the media and grocery industries.

Gannett, the publisher of USA Today, jumped 27 per cent after agreeing to buy Belo Corp for about $1.5 billion. Belo surged 27 per cent.

PVH Corp climbed 9.5 per cent to $121.90. The owner of the Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein brands said that excluding some items it earned $1.91 a share in the first quarter.

DuPont slipped 1.2 per cent to $53.57. The largest US chemical company by market value cut its first-half earnings forecast after cool, wet weather in North America and Europe affected revenue and costs at its agriculture and nutrition and health units.