Market rally loses pace on economic reports

An initially positive start to the quarter for stocks in Europe and the United States fizzled out as a mostly disappointing batch of economic reports reinforced the sense of uncertainty in the markets about the outlook for global growth.

European and Asian markets largely shrugged aside factory data out of China that did little to dispel worries about a slowdown in economic growth — but did at least show some stabilisation.

Investors remained cautious before the US jobs report Friday, which is expected to show the economy added 200,000 workers last month.

DUBLIN

In Dublin, there was some relief for food group

Aryzta

which added 5.74 per cent to finish on €40.33 after Société Générale raised its rating on the company to buy from hold.

Tullow Oil also had a good session, jumping 20 cent , or 8.73 per cent, to €2.49 after saying its unchanged credit facilities shows continued support from lenders.

Game Account Network was 8.6 per cent weaker at 58.5 per cent, after reporting losses earlier in the week that nearly trebled in the first half to $3.5 million as the company adjusts its business focus.

LONDON

A jump in BP and

Royal Dutch Shell

lifted the FTSE 100 Index higher after British stocks ended the month yesterday with their biggest advance since August.

Pearson rose 2.2 per cent after Citigroup reinstated the educational media company with a buy rating.

Glencore jumped as much as 8 per cent earlier in the day, then reversed to fall as much as 6 per cent, before closing down 0.6 per cent.

Tesco led declines on the benchmark, falling 2.7 per cent, after the London Times reported that the grocer is in talks to sell 10 development sites for £250 million.

The FTSE 100 added 0.2 per cent to 6,072.47 at the close in London, paring a rally of as much as 1.8 per cent.

EUROPE

An early advance in European stocks proved fragile, turning to losses after the release of the US PMI data showing that manufacturing activity deteriorated there in September. Signs of stabilization in China’s factory data had boosted investor optimism earlier, with rallies in miners and energy shares sending the Stoxx Europe 600 Index up as much as 1.5 per cent.

Europe’s benchmark gauge lost 0.4 per cent to 346.23 at the close of trading.

Energy shares were the biggest gainers today. Repsol added 3.7 per cent after agreeing to sell part of its piped-gas business. While BHP Billiton and Randgold Resources paced gains in commodity producers.

Germany’s DAX Index reversed gains of as much as 1.3 per cent to tumble 1.6 per cent as Volkswagen dropped 1.3 per cent after earlier climbing 5.6 per cent.

NEW YORK

US stocks retreated, with investors circumspect after the strongest equity rally in three weeks yesterday capped the worst quarter since 2011.

Equities failed to maintain momentum from Wednesday’s gains, a familiar pattern as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has strung together three winning sessions only once since July.

The S&P 500 was little changed at 1,919.96 at 3:20pm in New York, erasing an earlier 1 per cent slide. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 46.43 points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,239.17 while the Nasdaq lost 0.2 percent.

The heavyweights have been doing all the lifting with Apple, Microsoft and Exxon Mobil – the three largest companies by market cap – accounting for nearly one-fifth of gains since the market bottomed after a four-day selloff of 10 per cent. All three were a drag yesterday, falling at least 0.9 per cent as all of the S&P 500's 10 main industries declined.

A report showed the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits rose again last week. – (Additional reporting Bloomberg/Financial Times Limited 2015)