Relief for markets as global equities rise

European stokcks rallied on Friday, trimming their worst January drop since 2008. The Iseq rose more than 2 per cent while the FTSE climbed 2.4 per cent.

US stocks also joined the advance in global equities, while bonds rallied as the Bank of Japan’s unexpected monetary stimulus boosted confidence that central banks remain vigilant of slowing economic growth.

DUBLIN

The big blue-chip globally focused Irish stocks performed well, posting strong gains along with their industry peers worldwide. In particular, Irish stocks with a US focus were traded heavily – €62 million of

CRH

shares were traded on the Iseq, with the stock closing up 3 per cent.

Glanbia

, which is building a strong nutrition business in the US, finished the session up 2.55 per cent.

Kingspan

, the Cavan insulation business that is also active in the US, closed up 4.2 per cent.

The highest gainer was Petroceltic International, which closed up 74 per cent after it issued a statement just before closing confirming it had received another waiver from its banks to allow it to continue sale talks.

Ryanair closed up 2.3 per cent while Paddy Power, which is preparing a merger with Betfair, was up 1.3 per cent after €240 million worth of its shares changed hands.

LONDON

Gains were broad-based, with only three stocks in negative territory. Sainsbury’s rose 3.6 per cent after a report that its attempts to buy Argos-owner Home Retail had stalled.

Analysts had said the deal might have been expensive for Sainsbury. Home Retail lost a quarter of its value before recovering to close 4 per cent lower.

Sky rose 3.9 per cent after announcing that James Murdoch would return as chairman and saying that operating profit had beaten expectations, after reporting strength in its TV and broadband divisions.

Rival BT also rose 4 per cent, as it completed its takeover of mobile network operator EE, opening the way to creating a single integrated network offering telecoms and TV services.

EUROPE

Lenders in Italy and Spain were among the best Stoxx 600 performers, pushing their national benchmarks to some of the biggest gains in Europe.

Banco Popular Espanol rallied 7 per cent after its quarterly net interest income improved, while Banco de Sabadell jumped 12 per cent on better-than-estimated earnings. Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano, said to be in merger talks, gained 7.4 per cent or more.

Gamesa Corp Tecnologica surged 19 per cent after a report that Siemens is exploring an acquisition of the company. Telefonica advanced 3.6 per cent after saying it would offer employees early retirement in a plan that would save money in the long term.

ThyssenKrupp slid 3.2 per cent after its chief executive officer said he saw “major risks” for Europe’s steel industry. ArcelorMittal and Voestalpine declined more than 2.4 per cent, dragging the region’s commodity producers lower.

NEW YORK

Heading into the afternoon,

Honeywell International

rose 4 per cent to pace gains in the S&P 500’s industrial group after its aerospace sales increased and the company reiterated its 2016 outlook.

Visa climbed the most since August after its profit exceeded estimates as consumer card spending increased. Video- game publisher Electronic Arts fell 8.8 per cent after forecasting fiscal fourth-quarter results that fell short of estimates.

Phone companies were on track for the best performance this month, up 5.3 per cent, while raw materials were the worst, losing nearly 12 per cent.

Apple increased 2.8 per cent to trim its drop this week, while Facebook and Google parent Alphabet advanced more than 1.7 per cent. Phillips 66 fell 1.1 per cent after the largest US independent refiner by market value reported a decline in profit as refining margins narrowed. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg/ Reuters)