Global construction stocks take a hit

Financial markets remained on edge after a rout Monday, as a rally in US stocks faded while gauges of European and emerging-market equities retreated. European shares partially recovered from an early drop on Tuesday, supported after battered miner Glencore halted a slide in its share price.

DUBLIN

It was a very weak day on the Dublin market yesterday, with one analyst describing it as a “very very nervous market”. The ISEQ performed worse than its European peers finishing the day down 2.6 per cent at 6,055.96.

Construction stocks declined globally as a result of Wolseley results. This impacted CRH and Kingspan, which both fell heavily. Kingspan plunged 5.28 per cent to end the day at €21.13. CRH was down 3.5 per cent to close at €22.97.

Ryanair also saw negative moves with shares declining 2.6 per cent to €12.95.

Paddy Power was one of the few bright sparks on the day, outperforming the market. It closed up 0.1 per cent at €102.

Origin Enterprises is also holding up, with the stock rising 0.3 per cent to €6.47.

LONDON

UK stocks declined for a second day as construction-related companies tumbled amid persistent concern over global growth prospects.

Wolseley led the drop, falling 12.5 per cent, after it forecast North American industrial markets will be challenging, and the UK heating industry will remain competitive.

Glencore led the mining sector higher and staged its biggest one-day gain, surging almost 17 per cent after about a third of its market value was wiped out on Monday.

Sector peer Antofagasta rose 2.2 per cent. The broader FTSE 350 mining index was up 2.9 per cent and the materials sector, which contains FTSE 100 mining stocks, added 5.5 points to the benchmark index.

Drugmaker Shire also underperformed, down 3.1 per cent, with rivals AstraZeneca, Novartis and Roche also weakening after a US biotechnology sell-off spread to Europe.

The FTSE 100 index was down 0.8 per cent to 5,909.24 at the close of trading.

EUROPE

European stocks deepened losses today, signalling investor worry over global growth hasn’t abated. Concern over a slowdown in Asia and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s actions is weighing on shares, boosting volatility.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.7 per cent to 339.23 at the close of trading. Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 both edged higher.

Continental climbed 2.5 per cent after Goldman Sachs added the stock to its conviction buy list, saying it's a beneficiary of the focus on emission standards after Volkswagen's diesel scandal.

RWE rallied 5.8 per cent after Westdeutsche Allgemeine cited an ally of German chancellor Angela Merkel as saying the state of North Rhine-Westphalia should support the power company in dealing with the country's energy shift.

US

US stocks were higher in late morning trading as shares of health care companies bounced back and data showed consumer confidence was at its highest since January.

Eight of the 10 S&P sectors were up, with the healthcare index's 1.50 per cent gain leading the advancers. Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic provided the biggest boost to the index, which closed down in the last seven sessions.

At 11.26am, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 14.4 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 16,016.29, the S&P 500 was up 4.64 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 1,886.41 and the Nasdaq composite was up 11.25 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 4,555.22.

Yahoo shares rose 3.2 per cent to $28.48, a day after the its board decided to proceed with spinning off Alibaba stake.

Nexstar rose 4.3 per cent to $45.38 after activist investor Starboard Value LP urged regional TV company Media General to sell itself to Nexstar. – Additional reporting: Agencies