EUROPEAN STOCKS rebounded from their longest stretch of weekly losses since August as companies from International Power to Royal KPN rallied amid an increase in takeover activity.
The Iseq Index in Dublin was up 0.3 per cent as the market “clawed back some of the losses of last week” in the words of one Irish trader.
DUBLIN
DRAGON OIL was the big mover of the day in Dublin up 2.67 per cent to €7.60 after the exploration company issued an interim management statement stating that production in the first quarter rose by 22 per cent.
It maintained its target to achieve a 15 per cent increase in gross production this year on the basis of 13 new wells to be put into production during the year.
Food group Glanbia and travel software provider Datalex were both up just under 2 per cent.
Independent News Media was the biggest faller of stocks on the main market, down 4.4 per cent at 22 cent. Biotech Elan was also lower, down 2.5 per cent at €10.22, while ferry operator Irish Continental Group closed down 1.27 per cent at €15.55.
Of the big stocks, CRH and Ryanair were both down marginally in light trading.
LONDON
BRITISH STOCKS advanced, rebounding from four consecutive weeks of losses, as gains in International Power overshadowed declines in bank shares.
International Power jumped 3.2 per cent after GDF Suez raised its offer to buy the 30 per cent stake in the company that it doesn’t already own.
Lloyds Banking Group led a drop in financial stocks as Spanish bond yields rose to a four-month high.
The FTSE 100 Index increased 0.3 per cent to 5,666.28 at the close in London.
The benchmark gauge has still lost 5 per cent since its 2012 high on March 16th. The broader FTSE All-Share Index climbed 0.2 per cent.
“The market is making a pause after last week’s declines,” said Bruno Ducros, a fund manager at CamGestion in Paris, which oversees about $4 billion in stocks.
“All the better, but I’m not sure it will last. We expect volatility until Spain’s bond sale on Thursday.”
Spain will sell 2014 bonds with a 3.3 per cent coupon and 2022 bonds with 5.85 per cent coupon on Thursday.
Stocks gained after a report showed US retail sales rose more than forecast in March. The 0.8 per cent gain the consumer reading exceeded the 0.3 per cent advance projected in a Bloomberg survey and followed a revised 1 per cent increase in February, Commerce Department figures showed.
EUROPE
KPN CLIMBED after saying it’s reviewing its Belgian mobile-phone unit. French banks paced declining shares.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.3 per cent to 254.26 at the close in London, paring an earlier rally of as much as 1.2 per cent. The gauge fell last week, for a fourth week of losses, amid renewed concern the euro area’s debt crisis is worsening and as China’s economic growth slowed.
“There is volatility out there at the moment,” said Kevin Gardiner, head of global investment strategy at Barclays Wealth. “When the dust settles, the underlying profitability of average large quoted companies is actually pretty resilient. Investors will eventually come back in and capitalize on that opportunity.”
The benchmark Stoxx 600 has risen 4 per cent this year as the European Central Bank disbursed more than 1 trillion euros to the region’s lenders and as US economic reports topped forecasts.
The number of shares changing hands was 4.8 per cent greater than the average over 30 days, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
National benchmark indexes climbed in 12 of the 17 western- European markets that were open yesterday.
Germany’s DAX rose 0.6 per cent and France’s CAC 40 increased 0.5 per cent. Greece’s stock market was closed for the Orthodox Easter holiday.
NEW YORK
MOST STOCKS retreated in early trading as Apple and Google led technology shares lower, wiping out an early rally spurred by stronger-than-forecast retail sales. Treasuries and the dollar rose, while Spanish 10-year bond yields climbed to the highest levels of the year. Ten-year Treasury yields decreased three basis points to 1.95 per cent.
Apple shares lost 2.3 per cent early on, slumping for a fifth straight day, and Google fell 2.4 per cent to lead technology shares to the biggest decline among the 10 main industry groups in the SP 500.
Stocks started the session higher, with the SP 500 climbing as much as 0.7 per cent, as Commerce Department data showed US retail sales rose 0.8 per cent in March, topping the median economist estimate for 0.3 per cent growth. – (Additional reporting by Bloomberg)
