Incoming Fed chief’s ‘taper’ comments ensure global markets remain afloat

On the day Ireland officially announced it was exiting the bailout unaided, the Iseq in Dublin crept up by 0.5 per cent.

Elsewhere, global equity markets mostly rose after Janet Yellen, nominated to be the next chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, said the central bank should take care not to "taper" stimulus too early.

National benchmark indexes rose in 16 of the 18 western European markets. France’s CAC 40 added 1 per cent, Germany’s DAX climbed 1.1 per cent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 increased 0.5 per cent.

DUBLIN
CRH was among the top gainers in Dublin, climbing 2.09 per cent to close at €19.29. This came after data from the US showed that states continue to boost spending on new roads and highways. About half of CRH's US business depends upon this segment.

Ryanair was traded reasonably heavily yesterday, with more than five million shares changing hands in about 2,000 deals. It closed the day down 1.23 per cent to finish at €29.26. Aer Lingus fell further than its bigger rival, albeit on much lighter volumes. It closed the day at €1.38, down 1.43 per cent.

Irish Continental Group, which recently announced it is to boost capacity on the Irish Ferries Dublin-Holyhead route, fell by 3.3 per cent. This followed on from a near 1 per cent decline the previous day.

LONDON
Burberry added 1.9 per cent to £1.48. The UK's largest luxury-goods maker said first-half earnings were little changed as the start of its own beauty business and weaker wholesale revenue offset growth in retail sales. Pretax profits for the six months to the end of September were £173.9 million compared with £173.4 million a year earlier.

J Sainsbury gained 1 per cent to £4.14. Citigroup, HSBC, Natixis and BNP Paribas raised recommendations on the stock after the supermarket group said first-half earnings climbed 7 per cent. Citi said the stock is priced for sluggish growth that may prove too pessimistic, while profit margins in the industry may fare better than estimated.

Trinity Mirror, which publishes the Daily Mirror newspaper, gained 20 per cent to £1.66, its highest price since April 2010. The company said it expects to report full- year earnings at the high end of market expectations.

EUROPE
BNP Paribas climbed 2.9 per cent after saying it plans to buy the 25 per cent it doesn't own in its consumer- banking unit BNP Paribas Fortis for €3.25 billion.

Zurich Insurance Group, Switzerland's biggest insurer, advanced 2.5 per cent to 258.50 francs after it said third-quarter profit rose 64 per cent, beating estimates. Net income jumped to $1.1 billion from $672 million a year ago. That beat the $993.5 million average estimate of analysts.

RWE slipped 5.1 per cent to €25.76. The German utility company said recurrent net income, the measure used to calculate the dividend, will drop to between €1.3 billion and €1.5 billion in 2014, from about €2.4 billion forecast for this year. German peer EON slid 1.7 per cent.

NEW YORK
Cisco, the world's largest maker of computer-networking equipment, tumbled 12 per cent to $21.07 after its quarterly profit and sales forecasts missed analysts' estimates. Cisco has cut prices to bolster sales of switches and routers, seeking to fend off competition from Huawei Technologies, Juniper Networks and Hewlett Packard. Sales in developing regions were less than anticipated and there was a "lack of confidence among business leaders" because of the economic outlook.

Office Depot rose 3.4 per cent to $5.57. Bank of America raised its rating to buy from underperform – similar to a sell recommendation – citing potential cost savings after its merger with OfficeMax and appointment of a new chief executive. – (Additional reporting, Bloomberg)