Quiet day on Dublin’s Iseq as Glanbia and Permanent TSB down

Crude oil futures hit a six-month high yesterday as output disruptions were expected to eat into a long-standing glut in the market, while higher commodity prices boosted basic materials and energy shares. The benchmark US Treasury yield rose after matching a one-month low on Friday.

Supply disruptions in Nigeria, Canada and Venezuela have most likely pushed oil production below consumption levels in May for the first time in at least two years. That means the world has started eating into the huge piles of oil that knocked as much as 70 per cent off crude prices between 2014 and early 2016.

DUBLIN

The Iseq index rose by a modest 37 points to 6,159 on what traders described as a quiet day.

The underperformer of the day was Permanent TSB, which traded down 3.6 per cent at €1.88. The stock has been weak since last week's trading update and on the back of news the Government plans to exert further pressure on banks to reduce their variable mortgage interest rates.

Food group Glanbia was down 1 per cent to €16.43 with over a million shares traded.

Ryanair rose 2 per cent to €13.09. It will have numbers out next week, which should indicate the pressure on yields amid a downturn in demand linked to terrorist attacks.

Irish Ferries owner ICG traded up 2.4 at €5.03 following a positive set if results last week.

Bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair rose nearly 1 per cent to €113.85 as the market awaits further details on the synergies achieved by the recent merger.

LONDON

Britain’s top share index ended higher, with a rally in basic resources stocks on the back of stronger metals prices supporting the broader equities market. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.2 per cent stronger at 6,151.40 points after gaining in the previous session. However, the benchmark index is still down about 1.5 per cent so far this year.

The UK mining index rose 2 per cent after metals prices rose following a softer dollar and data showing an improvement in China's property sector, offsetting several softer gauges of the country's economy that had raised concerns over the demand prospects for industrial metals. Shares in Antofagasta, Glencore and BHP Billiton were up 1.9 to 3.4 per cent. Among small caps, miner Lonmin surged nearly 20 per cent after reporting a first-half core profit of $36 million, up from a loss of $6 million the same time a year ago.

EUROPE

European stocks pared their declines amid a rally in miners and energy companies as China’s central bank pledged to support the economy.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell less than 0.1 per cent, trimming a decline of as much as 0.7 per cent, as a rise in commodities and oil sent their producers up the most among industry groups.

Among companies rising on corporate news, Konecranes Oyj surged 20 per cent after the Finnish construction-machinery maker agreed to acquire a Terex lifting-gear business, abandoning a full merger.

Telecom Italia climbed 4.6 per cent after almost tripling its target for reducing expenses to €1.6 billion by 2018.

Eutelsat Communications dropped another 5.4 per cent, after tumbling a record 28 per cent on Friday following its earnings report, as  Morgan Stanley lowered its rating on the French satellite operator to the equivalent of a sell.

NEW YORK

Wall Street was higher after a bruising week, bolstered by a bounce in

Apple

shares, while surging oil prices fired up energy stocks. The iPhone maker’s shares were up 2.9 per cent at $93.15 after Warren Buffett’s

Berkshire Hathaway

reported a stake worth about $1 billion in the company.

Oil jumped more than 2 percent to its highest in six months due to disruptions in Nigerian output and after Goldman Sachs said the market had ended almost two years of oversupply and flipped to a deficit.

– (Reuters)