Little change in Irish and UK stocks

Eurostoxx 50: 2,434.23 (+0.21%) Paris CAC: 3,433.21 (+0.02%) Frankfurt DAX: 6,971.07 (+0.31%)

NATIONAL BENCHMARK indices fell in nine of the 18 western European markets yesterday. France’s CAC added less than 0.1 per cent and Germany’s DAX rose 0.3 per cent. The benchmark FTSE 100 closed unchanged at 5,776.6 in London, after earlier falling as much as 0.6 per cent.

DUBLIN

VOLUMES WERE light on the Iseq yesterday with the market finishing down 0.46 per cent. There was little market-specific news to buffet stocks, which remained flat or only slightly moved.

Newspaper circulation figures overnight had little effect on Independent News Media stock. Shares in the newspaper group finished down slightly but volumes, at about 120,000 shares traded, were low. The stock ended the day down 1.19 per cent at 18 cent.

Paper and packaging group Smurfit Kappa was a tad weaker, finishing down 1.98 per cent or 13 cent at €6.48.

Bank of Ireland stock, under pressure in recent days on foot of figures showing Irish banks’ poor lending record to SMEs, went positive yesterday. The bank finished up 1.18 per cent or 0.001 cent at 0.086 cent.

CRH and Fyffes were both up, though on low volumes. The building materials group climbed almost half a per cent or six cent to €14.29. The fruit importer was up 0.42 per cent or 0.002 cent, finishing the day at 45 cent.

There was progress for United Drug too. On foot of a positive update to the market last week, the pharmaceutical and healthcare services company climbed 1.12 per cent or two cent to close at €2.61.

LONDON

UK STOCKS were little changed yesterday, erasing earlier losses, as German chancellor Angela Merkel said Greece must stick to its commitments to remain in the euro area.

Rio Tinto, the world’s third-largest mining company, fell 1.6 per cent to 2,910 pence as copper declined. BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest commodity producer, dropped 1.4 per cent to 1,933 pence.

Stobart Group slid 3.5 per cent to 114.9 pence, dropping for a third day. The truck haulier said the recession had slowed its growth. African Minerals tumbled 17 per cent to 250 pence, its biggest drop since February 2009. The Sierra Leone iron ore producer that got a $1.5 billion (€1.2 billion) investment from a Chinese steel mill in April fell after cutting its production forecast for this year.

Hays, the UK recruiter that found jobs for 250,000 people worldwide last year, fell 4 per cent to 77.4 pence, declining for a fourth day.

Marks and Spencer rose 4.3 per cent to 371.7 pence. CVC Capital Partners has explored taking the UK’s largest clothing chain private as sales slump amid a lack of demand for its fashions, people close to the matter said.

EUROPE

EUROPEAN STOCKS posted a 1.8 per cent drop this week, snapping 11 weeks of gains. The equity benchmark has still rallied 15 per cent from this year’s low on June 4th as European Central Bank president Mario Draghi pledged to preserve the euro and said the bank may intervene in the secondary market to reduce bond yields.

Nokia jumped 4.2 per cent to €2.49, for an eighth consecutive day of gains. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewer, rose 1.9 per cent to €65.40, following a gauge of European food and beverage shares higher. Chief strategy officer Jo Van Biesbroeck bought 200,000 shares for €13.1 million on August 17th, according to regulatory filings.

Danone, the world’s largest yogurt maker, gained 1.4 per cent to €51.01, while Marine Harvest, the world’s biggest salmon farmer, climbed 3.9 per cent to 4.51 kroner as investors bought the stock in anticipation of increased fish prices.

NKT Holding fell 9 per cent to 191.10 kroner after the maker of cables and vacuum cleaners reported second-quarter sales of 3.9 billion kroner (€532 million), missing analysts’ estimates of 4.15 billion kroner.

NEW YORK

US STOCKS gained on news the European Central Bank is considering setting targets in a new bond-buying programme that could help contain euro zone borrowing costs and on hopes of more stimulus from the US Federal Reserve.

Despite the day’s advance, the SP 500 broke a six-week string of gains. For the week, the benchmark index fell 0.5 per cent.

The market’s gains were fairly broad, with the SP financial index rising 0.6 per cent.

The Dow also broke a six-week string of gains, losing 0.9 per cent for the week. The Nasdaq lost 0.2 per cent for the week after posting five weeks of gains.

Supervalu shares jumped 10.9 per cent to $2.35 as the US grocery company’s advisers sought potential buyers to bid for the entire business.

Autodesk slid 15.6 per cent to $30.13. The stock was downgraded by brokerages after the design software maker’s quarterly results fell short of expectations. – (Additional reporting: Reuters)