European stocks rise after sell-off eases

European stocks rose, US futures climbed and the yen weakened as investors took solace that the resumption of trading in Chinese equities failed to spark a deeper sell-off. Wall Street was closed for the Labor Day holiday.

DUBLIN

The Iseq closed up on a par with its European peers on Monday, rising 0.65 per cent to finish the day on 6,355.

The rise was helped by index heavyweight CRH which increased 1.2 per cent to €25.63.

Property investment group Green REIT rose 1.5 per cent to €1.49. The company announced a 264 per cent increase in profits to €156.7 million for the 12 months to the end of June.

Smurfit Kappa was the star performer on the day, climbing 2.89 per cent to €26.50. The stock traded as high as €26.56.

Fyffes, meanwhile, jumped 3.48 per cent to €1.51, while Ryanair was up 0.74 per cent to €12.90.

LONDON

The London market closed up on Monday buoyed by mining stocks, allowing the top flight to bounce back from a sharp decline in the previous session.

Glencore rose 7 per cent after it said it would suspend dividends, sell assets and raise $2.5 billion in a new share issue as it aims to cut its debt by a third to $20 billion by the end of next year.

It also plans to shut down loss-making mines to help reduce a glut of supply that has weighed on prices.

Other miners also rallied, with Antofagasta up 7.5 per cent and Anglo American up 1.4 per cent.

British publisher Pearson was up 3 per cent after two brokerages upgraded the stock, making it the top gainer on the E300 media index.

Associated British Foods, the company behind budget retailer Primark, dropped 0.8 per cent after a corporate update.

The British FTSE 100 was up 31.60 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 6,074.52 points at the close, rallying after a 2.4 per cent fall on Friday.

EUROPE

European stocks rose, following a sell-off that wiped out two days of gains.

Abengoa surged 16 per cent, with a majority of the gains in the final half-hour of trading. Enel added 1.7 per cent after the Italian utility said it would meet its 2015 financial targets.

Vallourec slid 4 per cent as Exane BNP Paribas cut its price target on the shares, citing a poorer outlook for 2016.

Miners posted the biggest gain of the 19 industry groups on the Stoxx 600. The volume of Stoxx 600 shares changing hands today was 38 per cent lower than the daily average, with US markets closed.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.5 per cent to 354.81 at the close of trading, after earlier rising as much as 1.2 per cent. Frankfurt’s Dax and the Cac 40 in Paris were each up by around 0.5 per cent.

ASIA

Emerging market stocks stumbled to the lowest in almost two weeks with many Asian bourses suffering steep losses, dragged down by another sharp fall in Chinese mainland shares while currencies across the asset class chalked up losses.

MSCI’s broadest emerging market index fell more than 1 per cent after China stocks closed as much as 3.4 per cent down on the day as the sell-off continued in the aftermath of a four-day market holiday.

Stocks in Hong Kong slipped to their lowest in more than two years, while Indonesia’s main index dropped 2.5 per cent.

Indian stocks tumbled to a 15-month low, with the benchmark index extending losses after posting the worst weekly decline since 2011, as metalmakers and healthcare companies retreated amid losses in emerging-market equities.

Vedanta, the largest copper producer, slid for a second day, dragging down the S&P BSE India metals index.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Lupin, the biggest drugmakers, decreased at least 2.6 per cent, dragging down an industry index to a one-month low. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters)