Markets reacted well to the Fed’s Wednesday indication that US interest rates would probably be stable for the time being while, closer to home, growing expectations of a No vote in Scotland helped to support stocks. Positive news on jobless claims in the US also generated some investor confidence in the afternoon.
DUBLIN
The Irish market outperformed many of its peers, posting a 1.58 per cent gain by the close as uncertainty surrounding the Scotland referendum seemed to be fading.
CRH did its bit to lift the market as a whole, climbing 43 cent to €18.38. The stock is due to be excluded from the Euro Stoxx 50 index today, with the move expected to lead to a busy session on the Iseq.
Paddy Power was particularly strong, boosted by a positive note from UK house broker Credit Suisse, which gave the stock a price target of €65. Shares climbed 377 cent to €56.07.
Fyffes was solid too, gaining 5.2 cent, or 5.25 per cent, to finish at €1.042 as its chief executive David McCann visited Wall Street to try to persuade major Chiquita shareholders of the merits of merging.
Other rising stocks included Bank of Ireland, up 0.7 cent at 32.5 cent and FBD, ahead by 36.5 cent at €14.80. On the losing side on the day was Dalata, down 5 cent at €3.15, with an announcement to the exchange confirming that Franklin Templeton controls almost 12 per cent of the hotel group.
LONDON
Scotland was the theme of the day in the City of London, with investors in the main laying bets that a No to independence was on its way. Sterling was pushed to a two-year peak against the euro and Scotland-based stocks moved up towards the end of the session.
Out of 12 Scotland-based stocks in the FTSE 350, only two closed down. UK government bond yields rose, as traders backed a No vote they saw as clearing the way for the Bank of England to raise interest rates before parliamentary elections next May.
Glasgow-based power generation group. Aggreko was up 0.5 per cent while major Scottish financial institutions such as Royal Bank of Scotland and Aberdeen Asset Management fared better, rising by 1.3 and 2 percent respectively.
Elsewhere, mining stocks declined after the Fed’s latest pronouncement hit gold’s safe haven status. Randgold Resources and silver miner Fresnillo were both down, while Rio Tinto dropped 10p to 3229.5p.
Easyjet did well after saying it would increase the ratio of its dividend to profit this year.
EUROPE
Markets were up across Europe, supported by the Fed’s indication that US interest rates won’t be rising in the near future. National benchmark indexes rose in 16 of the 18 western European markets, with Germany’s Dax jumping 1.4 per cent and France’s Cac 40 adding 0.8 per cent.
Bayer climbed 6.2 per cent to €112.70, its highest price since at least 1992. Germany’s biggest drugmaker, which is focusing on its lucrative life-sciences operations, said its plastics business will be listed on the stock market as a separate company. The decision is subject to approval by the supervisory board. The Stoxx 600 climbed 1 per cent to 347.78 at close of trading, its highest level in two weeks.
US
US stocks rose for a third day, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record, as data showed fewer Americans filing for jobless claims and investors speculated interest rates will remain low, on the back of the Fed announcement.
Kohl’s added 1.6 per cent after analysts at Citigroup told clients to buy the shares. “The market’s still in Fed mode,” Joe Bell, a senior equity analyst at Cincinnati-based Schaeffer’s Investment Research said. “A majority of people are thinking July 2015 may be the rate increase and the market’s responding positively to the idea that rates aren’t coming any sooner.” – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg/Reuters/PA)
