Investors come out of hiding as fears of war recede

European shares rose on Monday after geopolitical tension had sent them to their worst weekly losses of the year, with a softening currency buoying euro zone firms.

Global stocks also gained and volatility receded as the prospect of war between the US and North Korea appeared to cool. Havens such as gold, US treasuries and the yen fell. Oil retreated. US stock were broadly higher heading into the afternoon.

DUBLIN

The Iseq rose by 1.6 per cent on modest trading volumes, as steady performances from the index’s biggest shares kept it firmly in the black.

Ryanair closed the session up 2.34 per cent after a strong performance in the afternoon. The airline was in the market itself buying up shares as part of its ongoing share buyback programme.

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Paddy Power Betfair also finished the session well, closing up almost 2.4 per cent after a late flurry of trades. The stock regained some of the ground lost since the shock announcement last week that its well-regarded chief executive Breon Corcoran is leaving.

Dalata Hotel Group announced the sale and leaseback of a hotel in Birmingham, which was well received by analysts. The stock opened on the Iseq down 1.7 per cent, however, before regaining some of that ground to close down 0.5 per cent.

LONDON

The FTSE 100 closed up 43.93 points to 7,353.89, with mining giants helping to push the market higher despite a mixed economic update from China.

Copper miner Glencore was among the biggest risers, lifting 9.9p to 331.9p, while BHP Billiton rose 25p to 1,361p.

Thomson-owner TUI Group was the biggest riser after being handed a broker upgrade from under-perform to neutral by Credit Suisse. Shares climbed 59p to 1,290p.

Outside of the top tier, John Menzies saw its share price jump by more than 1 per cent after a £40 million merger between the firm's distribution arm and DX Group was scrapped. Shares rose 10p to 7130p following a stock market announcement saying it did not believe it could agree terms that would interest John Menzies shareholders.

EUROPE

Across Europe, Germany’s Dax was 1.3 per cent higher, and the Cac 40 in France rose 1.2 per cent.

Banks, the worst hit last week, were among the top-gaining sectors, up 1.5 per cent, with Banco de Sabadell, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank all up 3.1 per cent to 3.6 per cent.

Fiat Chrysler shares jumped more than 8 per cent, leading autos stocks, with a trader citing an Automotive News report saying large Chinese automakers were looking to acquire the Italian company.

Danone shares gained 2.3 per cent after the New York Post newspaper speculated the firm could be a bid target. A spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.

Shares in German energy group RWE rose 1.5 per cent. The firm said 2017 profits would be near the top end of its forecast after first-half results were boosted by better gas plant performance. RWE has led European utilities this year, up more than 60 per cent.

NEW YORK

The gains were broad-based, with the S&P financial sector rising 1.40 per cent and the technology index 1.34 per cent, putting the S&P index on track for its biggest single-day percentage gain in nearly four months.

Tesla rose 1.74 per cent after two brokerages raised their price targets on the stock, citing the potential success of the company's Model 3 saloon.

JD.com, China's second largest e-commerce firm, was off 3.95 per cent after reporting a bigger loss due to higher marketing costs.

Alibaba was up about 1.49 per cent after Dan Loeb's Third Point bought 4.5 million shares in the Chinese e-commerce giant.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,396 to 416. On the Nasdaq, 2,102 issues rose and 676 fell. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg/Reuters/PA