Markets: CRH climbs as business improves

Investors in European equities shrugged off concerns over Greece as stimulus measures from China lifted sentiment.

China’s central bank decided to cut the required reserve ratio for banks by 1 per cent, in a move that will allow the banks to lend out a higher proportion of their deposits. It comes after the world’s second largest economy reported its worst quarterly growth figure for six years.

The gains across European markets were not enough, however, to erase completely the impact of Friday’s sell-off, which had been triggered by worries over a Greek debt default.

DUBLIN

The Iseq was little changed, with stocks having mixed fortunes. Building materials group

CRH

climbed 1.45 per cent to €25.81 as Davy Research analysts noted in a report that its underlying business “continues to show steady improvement”.

Aer Lingus rose 2.25 per cent to €2.41, while Ryanair advanced by 0.7 per cent, closing at a price of €11.09.

Many of the other main stocks ended in negative territory, however. Paper and packaging group Smurift Kappa fell almost 1 per cent to €28.68, while there were also declines for food groups Glanbia and Kerry, which finished down 1.3 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively. Drinks group C&C also dropped slightly, closing at €3.79, down 0.4 per cent.

LONDON

Mining stocks helped the FTSE 100 rebound after China moved to support stuttering growth in the world’s biggest consumer of metals. The index of blue-chip shares rose 0.8 per cent and climbing back over the 7,000 mark.

The FTSE 350 mining index rose 2 per cent, with BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta and Anglo American all gaining between 2 and 2.7 per cent. Financial stocks with operations in China also did well, with HSBC up 2 per cent to 613.3 pence.

Among the sharp risers, InterContinental Hotels followed up a big increase on Friday with a gain of 2 per cent to 2,786 pence as takeover speculation continued to surround the Crowne Plaza operator.

There were also gains for healthcare companies, with both Shire and AstraZeneca advancing at least 1 per cent.

EUROPE

Worries over Greece’s stalemate with international creditors sent ripples through European bond markets but had a fairly limited impact on equities.

Athens’ ATG index was one of the few national share benchmarks in negative territory. In Frankfurt, Germany’s Dax index climbed more than 1.7 per cent, while in Paris France’s Cac 40 was also ahead, finishing the session up almost 0.9 per cent.

Volkswagen, the only German blue-chip stock to fall, was depressed after Scania order updates and comments from the Shanghai auto show pointed to slowing China demand.

Telecoms stocks including Belgacom, Deutsche Telekom and Numericable were up more than 2 per cent after Liberty Global's Belgian subsidiary Telenet said it had agreed to buy local mobile network operator Base from Dutch group KPN.

Among other standout gainers, Banca Popolare di Milano rose 4.5 per cent after Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera reported a possible merger with the larger Banco Popolare. In Copenhagen, shares of jeweller Pandora rose 4 per cent after news of e-store launches in the American market.

US

US shares were boosted by investment bank

Morgan Stanley’s

report of its most profitable quarter since the financial crisis. The bank’s shares rose 1.1 per cent to $37.16.

Hasbro jumped 11.24 per cent after the toymaker reported a surprise increase in revenue. Royal Caribbean fell 7.15 per cent after it reported a fall in revenue, saying a strong dollar hurt spending on its cruise ships.

The mood on Wall Street was also improved by the Chinese stimulus. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg/Reuters/ PA)