Property stocks show Iseq gains

DUBLIN REPORT: Iseq: 3,360.54 (+0.610) at 12.15: The Iseq was up half a per cent on a broadly flat morning that saw property-related stocks post gains.

According to a Dublin-based broker, construction group CRH was quite strong, up half a per cent, while AIB was up 2 per cent, and property-related companies Kingspan and Grafton both showed strong gains.

However, he added that Paddy Power was down 3 per cent after being cut to "equal weight" by Morgan Stanley.

Elsewhere, stocks rallied worldwide, with Europe's benchmark index posting the best quarterly advance this decade, as Chinese manufacturing expanded and the International Monetary Fund cut its estimate of bank writedowns. Metals gained and the dollar fell.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index climbed 0.3 per cent at 11.58am. in London, extending its third-quarter surge to 19 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.3 per cent.

The dollar declined against 15 of the 16 most-traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Copper rose the most since September 16th. The extra yield investors demand to own developing-nation bonds instead of US. Treasuries narrowed by the most in two weeks.

Manufacturing in China grew for a sixth month, according to an index compiled by HSBC Holdings. The IMF reduced its prediction for global writedowns by 15 per cent to $3.4 trillion, citing improving credit markets and economic growth.

UK consumer confidence had its biggest jump in 14 years this month, according to GfK NOP.

The Stoxx 600's advance since June is the biggest since the final quarter of 1999, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index has gained 15 per cent, the steepest increase since 1998. The MSCI World Index has advanced 18 per cent in the past three months after the Group of 20 nations committed $12 trillion to revive global growth and countries from Germany and France to Hong Kong and New Zealand exited recessions.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1.1 per cent today.

Additional reporting Bloomberg