Iseq gains as Smurfit and Ryanair climb

The Iseq rose by a solid 0.8 per cent yesterday, as European stocks generally advanced in the final minutes of trading after remaining little changed for much of the day.

Investors remained cautious across the continent as EU governments weighed further sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, while the markets also pondered the possible outcomes of this week’s European Central Bank meeting.

The market in the US remained closed for Labor Day, one of the biggest national holidays in the US calendar.

DUBLIN

Two of the Iseq’s most weighted stocks,

Smurfit Kappa

and

Ryanair

, performed strongly, dragging the exchange into positive territory.

Smurfit

rose by 1.65 per cent as investors were buoyed by the prospects of potential paper rise this year in Europe.

Ryanair

climbed 3.16 per cent, as markets continued to react positively to its launch of a business-class service.

Providence Resources, the oil company run by Tony O'Reilly jnr, spiked 9.76 per cent in afternoon trading, as speculation mounted that it is nearing a deal to farm out part of its Barryroe prospect off the south coast.

Dalata, the largest hotel group in the country, opened down 1.6 per cent before recovering slightly to €2.96, a fall of 1.33 per cent. A tourism industry umbrella group has called had for at least 30 more hotels to be built in Dublin in coming years, which would add competition for the group.

FBD Holdings, the insurance group, slid by 3.25 per cent to €14.90. The stock last week announced a fall in profits and its intention to increase motor premiums, following a spike in claims.

LONDON

ITV

gained 3.6 per cent to 218.7 pence after a newspaper reported that

Liberty Global

was preparing a takeover offer. The newspaper said Liberty Global, which owns a stake in ITV and also owns UPC in Ireland, was seeking the backing of other shareholders of the British broadcaster. Liberty Global holds 6.5 per cent of ITV.

Tesco dropped 1.9 per cent to 225.55 pence. It was reported over the weekend that Harris Associates had cut its stake in the British grocer to 1 per cent from 3 per cent. Tesco's market share in Ireland is down 5.5 per cent, according to figures by Kantar yesterday. Separately, Stoxx said it would remove the British retailer from its Stoxx Europe 50 Index.

BAE added 2.5 per cent to 456 pence. Bank of America raised its rating on the stock to buy from underperform, similar to a sell recommendation, saying the shares may rise as global tensions potentially boost defence budgets in the US, Saudi Arabia and Sweden.

HSBC slipped 0.7 per cent after one of Britain's best-known fund managers, Neil Woodford, said he had sold his fund's stake in the banking group. He cited concern over the effect on the bank of several industry- wide investigations.

EUROPE

Novartis

advanced 4.3 per cent to 85.90 Swiss francs, its biggest increase since September 2011. In a trial involving 8,442 patients, its LCZ696 treatment reduced the risk of death and hospitalisation caused by heart failure by 20 per cent, compared with enalapril, the standard therapy, research published in the

New England Journal of Medicine

showed.

Havas gained 1.2 per cent to €6.30 after posting first-half revenue of €867 million, exceeding analysts' projection of €849 million. The French advertising company said all economic zones showed a moderate recovery in the first six months of the year, a trend it expected would continue in the second half.

Iliad fell 8.8 per cent to €152.45, its lowest price and the biggest drop this year. It has been reported that the French mobile carrier has been talking to US buyout firms as well as companies and sovereign- wealth funds to improve its bid for T-Mobile. Deutsche Telekom is said to be willing to negotiate a sale of its T-Mobile unit if the offer values the latter at $35 a share or more. Additional reporting: Bloomberg/Reuters