European stocks dragged down by lenders

European stocks extended their third quarterly drop in four to wrap up what has been the worst start to a year since the financial crisis.

Wall Street was set to end a tumultuous first quarter on a quiet note with the three major indexes eking out small gains on Thursday, led by healthcare stocks.

DUBLIN

The ISEQ index closed down 0.49 per cent at 6,308.92 in line with the UK market.

Index heavyweight CRH was down 1.5 per cent to €24.83 at the close of trading, falling after a strong day on Wednesday. Shares in the building materials giant tracked the European markets downwards.

There was decent volume in Paddy Power Betfair with 380,000 shares traded in Dublin. The stock climbed 1.1 per cent to €122.60.

Ryanair fell 0.3 per cent to €14.16 with two million shares traded in Dublin.

Permanent TSB declined 7 per cent to €2.72. However, the shares had risen by the same amount on Wednesday on small volume.

Glanbia was also down, declining 1.2 per cent to €17.94.

LONDON

UK shares retreated on Thursday, ending a weak first-quarter of 2016 on a downbeat note, although a recovery in mining shares helped it outperform euro zone indexes.

Britain's FTSE 100 was down 28.27 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 6,174.90 by the close, with BHP Billiton and Anglo American sliding at least 1.4 per cent. That left the index down 1.1 per cent in 2016 as the first quarter drew to a close.

A rise in summer bookings for tour operator TUI Group sent its shares up 5 per cent after the company said it was on track to meet its annual target.

Shares in cruise company Carnival gained 1.6 per cent after upgrades following its own well-received results in the previous session.

Life insurance company Old Mutual and Wolseley fell 1.8 per cent and 1.4 per cent after going ex-dividend.

EUROPE

European shares fell after solid gains in the previous session, with French telecoms and Italian banks underperforming.

Lenders helped drag the Stoxx Europe 600 Index down 1.1 per cent at the close of trading, trimming its monthly gain to 1.1 per cent.

Lenders from peripheral nations tumbled the most on the Stoxx 600, with Banco Popolare and Banco Comercial Portugues falling more than 6 per cent.

Among stocks moving on corporate news, Bouygues lost 3.6 per cent and Orange dropped 1.3 per cent after the two companies extended a deadline to reach an agreement on their wireless-phone merger plan.

French telecom stocks also lost ground, with Iliad dropping 2.7 per cent, Numericable-SFR down 1.8 per cent and Altice down 1.9 per cent.

Fingerprint Cards rallied 5.4 per cent after Saxo Bank recommended buying shares of the Swedish maker of biometric technology.

Genmab added 5.7 per cent as a study showed its treatment for a type of blood cancer had positive results.

The Cac 40 in France was down more than 1 per cent, while Germany’s Dax also fell just under 0.8 per cent.

NEW YORK

Wall Street inched up in quiet trading, helped by energy stocks, as a tumultuous quarter draws to a close. The first quarter was marked by a steep selloff in stocks at the start of the year that sent the S&P 500 down 11 per cent before a rebound in oil sparked a recovery.

Investors held off on making big bets ahead of the critical US non-farm payrolls report due today. Crude oil rose slightly, hovering near $40 a barrel.

Shares of Best Buy were up 3.5 per cent at $32.68 in early trading, after Barclays initiated coverage of the stock with an "overweight" rating.

The SandP 500 added 0.1 per cent to 2,064.96 at 11am in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 19.59 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 17,736.25. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters)