Blue chips help European shares to rise

European shares rose yesterday, reversing the previous session's dip as better-than-expected results from a number of blue-chips including pharma group Novartis and bank UBS helped lift sentiment and as US consumer confidence surged to a seven-year high.

Gains in Europe were spurred by the German DAX, up 1.9 per cent, and peripheral euro zone markets, with Spain's IBEX up 1.9 per cent.

The French CAC and Britain's FTSE gained only 0.4 and 0.6 per cent respectively, hit by steep falls in French pharmaceutical Sanofi and UK-listed Standard Chartered Bank after they reported results that missed expectations.

DUBLIN

The Dublin market rose in tandem with its European counterparts, albeit more modestly, with the ISEQ ending the day 0.5 per cent up at 4,694.

Drinks group C&C closed up 3 cents at €3.72, after trading as high as €3.75, ahead of results today. The makers of Magners cider is in a closely watched bidding war with the UK's Greene Kin to buy British pub group Spirit.

Following on from Sunday's stress test results, AIB was down by 5 per cent to 10 cents while Bank of Ireland remained unchanged at 30 cent with trading volumes described as subdued.

Hibernia Reit closed 2 cents down at €1.08 with trading busier than usual ahead of the release of new stock today which the property investment firm used to raise a further €300 million for investments.

Food giant Kerry Group was one of the better performers, ending the day up 80 cents or 1.5 per cent up at €52.80 as the outlook for the sector stays positive.

Industrial group Smurfit Kappa also pared back recent losses, ending the day 1.5 per cent up €16.40.

LONDON Britain's top equity index rebounded yesterday, helped by stronger mining stocks which offset a fall in banking shares such as Standard Chartered and Lloyds.

Mining companies such as Glencore, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto added the most points to the FTSE. The FTSE 350 Mining Index rose 1.8 per cent after the price of copper neared a two-week high.

However, banks retreated. Standard Chartered slumped 8.8 per cent to a near five-year low after the Asia-focused bank warned investors of lower second-half profits. Part-nationalised bank Lloyds also fell 2.4 per cent after it took a £900 million charge for compensating customers who were mis-sold loan insurance.

EUROPE European stocks rose, snapping a two-day drop, as Novartis and UBS rallied after posting financial updates. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 1 per cent to 328.25 at the close of trading as 18 of its 19 industry groups rose.

Novartis gained 1.8 per cent to 87.25 Swiss francs after third- quarter earnings of $1.37 a share beat estimates by five cents as sales of new medicines offset competition for the hypertension pill Diovan.

Swiss bank UBS rose 5.8 per cent to 16.32 francs after it set aside $1.94 billion for legal costs as it prepares to settle probes into alleged currency rigging. French drugmaker Sanofi plunged 11 per cent to €74.53, the most in almost 16 years, after a forecast for 2015 diabetes drugs sales disappointed investors.

US US stocks rose, bringing the Standard & Poor's 500 Index within 2 per cent of its last record, as investors dissected earnings and economic data before a Federal Reserve policy announcement tomorrow.

Amgen climbed 5.5 per cent after raising its full-year forecast. T-Mobile US added 1.5 per cent after boosting its estimate for subscriber acquisitions.

Policy makers begin their two-day policy meeting today after six weeks of volatility in global markets.