European stocks ended the last session before Christmas little changed in what would have been dull session had Deutsche Bank not surprised the market by managing to settle a long-running investigation in the US into alleged mis-selling of mortgage securities.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Index gained less than 0.1 per cent, closing little changed on the week.
DUBLIN
The Iseq Index ended a half day of trading on Friday up 0.4 per cent at 6,515.99 points.
C&C was one of the stocks most in demand, rising almost 2 per cent to €3.98, while Ryanair gained 1.6 per cent to €14.89 and Dalata Hotel Group added 1.5 per cent to €4.40.
Bucking the trend, Smurfit Kappa Group lost 0.9 per cent to €22.04 and Glanbia dropped 2.2 per cent to €15.40.
Bank of Ireland was also in focus, falling as much as 2.1 per cent after the company revealed that its capital ratios will be hit by a reassessment of the risk profile of its mortgage portfolio in the Republic that is not in default. However, the stock managed to rally off its lows to end the session unchanged at 24.3 cent.
LONDON
Britain's top shares held roughly steady in a shortened session on Friday, with Royal Bank of Scotland, the owner of Ulster Bank in Ireland, and Barclays heading in opposite directions following the latest developments in a US probe into mis-selling of mortgage securities.
The FTSE 100 ended up 0.1 per cent, and was up 0.8 per cent for the week – a third successive week of gains. The index hit its highest level in over two months.
RBS closed up 1.4 per cent, after the US department of justice settled with Deutsche Bank with a smaller fine than had been originally proposed, prompting speculation it might also be lenient on RBS.
However, Barclays fell 0.9 per cent after it failed to agree a settlement with the US department of justice. The department has launched a lawsuit against the British bank, but Barclays rejects its complaint.
EUROPE
Banks were the focus across European exchanges after Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse settled mortgage securities fraud suits in the US, and Italy's Monte dei Paschi agreed to a bailout.
Deutsche Bank trimmed early gains to end 0.3 per cent higher, outperforming a slightly negative European banking index, as its $7.2 billion (€6.9 billion) settlement in the US over the sale of toxic mortgage securities before the crisis was almost half of what authorities in the country were originally seeking.
Deutsche’s shares have risen nearly 80 per cent since touching record lows in September. Credit Suisse turned negative after early gains.
Italian lenders rose 0.6 per cent after the Italian government agreed to bail out Monte dei Paschi. The bank’s shares will remain suspended until the conditions of a state bailout become clear.
Shares in Telecom Italia rose 4.5 per cent after a report that Italy was considering a plan for its state lender to buy a stake in the telecoms company to counter the ambitions of French businessman Vincent Bollore.
NEW YORK
By early afternoon on Wall Street, stocks were treading water in light pre-holiday trading, with the three major indexes on track to post weekly gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which came within spitting distance of the historic 20,000 mark earlier this week, looked set to record its seventh straight weekly gains.
"There's really nothing to move the market one way or another," said Mohannad Aama, managing director at Beam Capital Management in New York. "We are in a holding pattern after the Trump rally and there's nothing really to factor in until 2017. Investors are closing the books for the year."
Following a sharp rally since the US election, the Dow is up about 14 per cent for the year and the S&P 500 is 11 per cent higher, on bets that the economy will benefit from Trump’s plans for deregulation and infrastructure spending. US markets are shut for the Christmas holiday on Monday.
The telecommunications index’s 0.23 per cent fall led the decliners. The health index rose 0.55 per cent, boosted by Allergan’s 1.81 per cent gain.
(Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters)
