Markets gain after ECB intervention

Stock markets in Europe opened unconvincingly this morning, but recovered after investors saw the bright side in remarks by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi as it cut its key interest rate. A positive start to trading in the US, meanwhile, helped European sentiment further, and equities across the region advanced into the close.

DUBLIN
The Iseq closed up 0.6 per cent, as it recovered in the afternoon in line with European markets.

Ryanair , which publishes its full-year results later this month, had a strong day and finished up more than 2 per cent at €6.10.

Industrial holdings group DCC , which has its last day trading on the Iseq on Friday, enjoyed double its average trading volume, with buyer interest pushing the stock up 0.7 per cent to €28.62.

Building materials group CRH opened weaker on the back of a sluggish end to US trading the night before, with the stock trading below €15.70 at one stage. But as investors grew more confident over the course of the session, CRH climbed and the stock closed up 0.3 per cent at €16.17.

Food group Kerry finished at €45.40, with the stock little changed since it released its interim management statement on Wednesday.

LONDON
The FTSE 100 of blue-chip shares rose 0.2 per cent, adding to Wednesday's gains.

BG Group climbed 4.3 per cent to 1,136 pence after the UK's third-largest oil and gas producer reported first-quarter production and liquefied natural gas earnings that beat analysts' estimates.

Glencore advanced 5.4 per cent to 331.15 pence. Glencore Xstrata Plc, formed after the world's largest publicly traded commodity producer completed its $29 billion takeover of Xstrata, will begin trading in London tomorrow and in Hong Kong on May 6th.

Imagination plunged 26 per cent to 315.4 pence. The UK designer of chip technology for phones and tablets said its adjusted pretax profit for the year to the end of April would be below analysts' estimates because of delays in licensing deals.

EUROPE
The ECB's rate cut sent European stocks to a seven-week high, while companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and BMW posted better-than-expected profits.

National benchmark indices declined in nine of the 18 western-European markets, however there was a 0.6 per cent rise in Germany’s Dax and a 0.1 per cent gain on the Cac 40 in Paris. The Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.3 per cent, rebounding from an earlier decline of as much as 0.5 per cent.

Royal Dutch Shell advanced to its highest price in three months in Amsterdam, adding 1.4 per cent to €26.20. Europe’s largest oil company said first-quarter profit excluding one-off items and inventory changes increased 3 per cent to $7.5 billion from a year earlier.

BMW advanced 1 per cent to €70.74. The world’s biggest luxury-car maker said first-quarter earnings before interest and taxes declined to €2.04 billion, a smaller drop than analysts had predicted.

Statoil retreated 3.9 per cent to 135.20 kroner. Norway's national oil firm posted adjusted net income of 12 billion kroner (€1.58 billion) for the first quarter, less than the 13.7 billion kroner estimated by analysts.

US
Stocks in New York rose in early trading, with the Standard and Poor 500 index reaching a fresh intraday high, after strong job market data and on hopes the ECB rate cut would help shore up the euro zone economy.

Visa hit a record high of $179.66, a day after the world's largest credit and debit card network reported strong quarterly results and rising growth in the key US market. Shares were last up 6.3 per cent to $176.45.

General Motors rose 4.1 per cent to $31.43 after reporting a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit as its North American business improved. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg / Reuters.)