Europe stocks up on improved earnings

European stocks rose amid better-than-estimated earnings while US equities fluctuated near all-time highs. The yen weakened to a seven-year low and Brent crude slid to the lowest level since 2010.

Good news from Vodafone lifted telecoms shares while in Dublin, interim statements and a profit warning provided the news. The Iseq index closed all but unchanged at 4,831.97, a fall of 0.01 per cent.

DUBLIN

There were varied fortunes unveiled by Dublin plcs today.

FBD is forecasting an operating loss for 2014 on the back of a claims environment that has become "far more challenging than expected". The stock fell 18.06 per cent to €11.80.

Kingspan, which said its business continues to perform solidly, closed up 0.2 per cent, at €12.65. CRH, which grew its sales by 3 per cent in the third quarter, closed down 1.13 per cent, at €17.49. Tullow Oil fell 5.36 per cent, to €6.19, while Aer Lingus rose 3.09 per cent, to €1.67. Ryanair closed at €8.43, up 1.13 per cent.

LONDON

Vodafone shares dialled up a 5 per cent surge after the mobile phone giant raised hopes that the worst may be over for its beleaguered European unit. It rose to a six-month high.

Vodafone expects underlying earnings of between £11.6 billion and £11.9 billion in the year to March 31st, compared with the previous bottom end of the range at £11.4 billion. Shares jumped up 11.2p to 219p.

The half-year update provided a boost to phone retailer Dixons Carphone, which climbed 7.9p to 409p.

In the FTSE 100, risers included Land Securities after the property firm said its net asset value improved 11.5 per cent in the first half of the year. Shares were up 26p to 1137p.

The recent fluctuation in fortunes for shares in Sainsbury's continued as the supermarket rose 6 per cent – up 14.4p to 269.1p – on the eve of half-year results tomorrow.

Outside the top flight, Taylor Wimpey was 4 per cent higher at 122.2p after it upgraded its guidance for operating margin growth. Bovis Homes improved 7.5p to 831.5p and Redrow cheered 6p to 276.5p.

The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index included Intercontinental Hotels Group, up 84p to 2537p, and Admiral, up 29p to 1224p. The biggest fallers were Tullow Oil, down 25.8p to 482.2p, Sports Direct, down 29.5p to 627p and BSkyB, down 20p to 868p.

EUROPE

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.4 per cent, after briefly paring gains as the US equity markets opened. The index has rebounded 9.3 per cent from this year’s low on October 16th as the Bank of Japan unexpectedly boosted its stimulus and most lenders in Europe passed tests of their capital strength.

Shares in German consumer goods group Henkel rose 4.6 per cent, to €83.20, after it posted better than expected quarterly earnings and raised its full-year forecast.

Germany provided further earnings support after mid-cap construction group Hochtief, controlled by Spain's ACS, rose 2.6 per cent. It reported a 12 per cent rise in underlying third- quarter net profit, beating market expectations.

NEW YORK

US stocks fluctuated after benchmark indexes closed at a record for a fourth day, as gains in homebuilder shares helped offset losses among industrial companies.

DR Horton rose 1.7 per cent. The largest US homebuilder by revenue said orders in the last quarter jumped 38 per cent. Rackspace Hosting climbed 14 per cent after third-quarter profit of 18 cents a share exceeded analysts estimates.

Zynga rose 6.3 per cent. Jefferies raised its rating on the stock to buy from hold, saying the company's mobile-games business would help spur advertising sales.

Time Warner Cable lost 2.6 per cent after dropping nearly 5 per cent yesterday, while Comcast fell 1.5 per cent for a second day of losses. – (Additional reporting, PA, Reuters, Bloomberg)