Stocks fall in line with economic data

European stocks fell with miners and auto-related shares leading the plunge, extending their first weekly drop in three, as data around the world signalled worsening economic conditions.

Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trading as a fall in health stocks and commodities overshadowed strong results from Amazon, Visa and Starbucks.

DUBLIN

The Dublin market ran out of steam in the late afternoon, with the ISEQ index closing down 0.45 per cent or 29.12 points at 6,482.52.

Permanent TSB gave up a little ground to finish the day down 2.7 per cent at €5.06.

There was some caution with Ryanair ahead of the airline's quarterly results on Monday. The stock ended the day down marginally at €12.32.

Smurfit Kappa is still struggling to get ahead of €28. The packaging company fell 0.8 per cent yesterday to close at €27.95.

There was a lot of buying interest in IFG, according to one Dublin stockbroker, with 40,000 shares traded in the financial services company. The stock closed up 2.8 per cent at €2.13.

There was strong volume in Hibernia REIT, with the stock closing up almost 1 per cent at €1.30.

LONDON

Tumbling shares of mining firms weighed on UK stocks, which erased an earlier gain to retreat in the last few hours of trading.

A surprise drop in a Chinese manufacturing gauge threatened to worsen a commodity rout, hurting shares of Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Glencore and Antofagasta.

Anglo American closed down 3.5 percent despite maintaining its interim dividend. Lonmin slumped 17.4 per cent to an all-time low while Glencore and Antofagasta fell 4.5 to 6.3 per cent. Diageo fell 2.5 per cent after saying the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into its distribution practices in the US.

Vodafone added 2.8 per cent after reporting service revenue that topped estimates.

The FTSE 100 Index lost 1.1 per cent to 6,579.81 at the close in London, making it the worst week for the benchmark since December.

EUROPE

European shares fell to a new one-week low, with companies such as satellite operator SES slumping after a disappointing update and commodity shares tracking a sharp decline in metals and oil prices.

SES shares fell 6.6 per cent, the biggest decliner in the blue-chip FTSEurofirst 300 index, after cutting its full-year revenue and profit guidance following a delayed satellite launch and a decline in earnings from fixed data customers due to the strong dollar.

Volkswagen slid 2.7 per cent, pacing losses among carmakers, after Manager Magazin said a drop in its Chinese deliveries could hurt earnings by more than €1 billion.

Germany’s DAX fell 1.4 per cent, led by BASF, which was down 4.6 per cent, after its earnings missed expectations.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.9 per cent to 394.64 at the close of trading, reversing intraday gains of 0.5 per cent. France’s CAC 40 fell by 0.6 per cent.

NEW YORK

US stocks fell for a fourth day as biotechnology shares slumped and raw-material producers sank amid an unexpected decline in Chinese manufacturing, overshadowing a rally in Amazon.com.

Biogen plummeted 19 per cent, the biggest drop in seven years, after the biotech company lowered its forecast for 2015 profit and sales.

Amazon surged 15 per cent, while Visa gained 4.6 per cent after profits beat predictions.

The S&P 500 Index slipped 0.5 per cent to 2,092.47 at 12.15pm in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 89.48 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 17,642.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 0.2 per cent.

– (Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters)