Momentum halts across Europe over renewed growth fears

The Iseq slipped about 0.5 per cent yesterday as European stocks generally struggled to maintain momentum, due to renewed concerns about global growth prospects.

UK stocks, meanwhile, advanced for a third day, although they fluctuated throughout the day.

Wall Street was higher heading into the afternoon, as investors went bargain hunting among beaten-down consumer discretionary, industrial and financial stocks.

DUBLIN

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fell along with other European banks, finishing the session down 3.7 per cent.

The decision by the Saudi, Russian, Qatari and Venezuelan governments of the oil producing nations to freeze output helped contribute to a rise in exploration stocks. Tullow Oil finished the day up 1.53 per cent while Providence Resources was up 4.3 per cent.

Irish Continental Group (ICG), the owner of Irish Ferries, battled back from 1.1 per cent down earlier in the session to finish up 0.5 per cent. Davy stockbrokers upgraded the stock ahead of its results next month, and suggested it would benefit from lower oil prices.

The Green REIT property company was one of the better performers, ending the day up 2.45 per cent. LONDON The biggest faller in London was Standard Chartered, which dropped 5.3 per cent after Investec cut its rating to hold from buy, recommending investors take profits after a 17 per cent surge in two days.

Anglo American reversed an earlier slide, rising 1.3 per cent after announcing plans to reduce debt and sell as much as $6 billion of assets by the end of the year following a doubling of its annual loss in 2015.

BP was up 1.4 per cent, having been as much as 4.6 per cent higher, while Royal Dutch Shell rose 1.6 per cent. Goldman reinstated coverage of Shell with a "buy" rating, and estimated that Brent would recover to $62 a barrel by 2017.

Telecoms giant Vodafone edged 165p lower to 211p after it said it had sealed a deal with cable firm Liberty Global to merge their Dutch businesses. The announcement comes after the two firms scrapped plans for wide-ranging asset swaps in late September. EUROPE European banks have been hurt the most in this year's rout that took the Stoxx 600 down as much as 17 per cent. UBS Group lost 0.9 per cent and Commerzbank slid 2.2 per cent. Greece's Alpha Bank slipped 5.6 per cent.

Telecom Italia slid 6.5 per cent after reporting 2015 revenue and earnings that missed analysts' estimates.

Air Liquide retreated 4.8 per cent after saying that its North American business was "marked by a slowdown in sectors related to oil and gas production and metal fabrication". Volkswagen slipped 1.6 per cent after data showed its market share declined for a fifth consecutive month.

NEW YORK Heading into the afternoon, Freeport-McMoRan had gained 12 per cent after agreeing to sell a stake in one of its biggest mines to Sumitomo Metal Mining Co for $1 billion.

Banks again gained, led by Wells Fargo's 1.9 per cent and Citigroup's 3.5 per cent rise.

Boeing was up 3 per cent at $111.93 and was the biggest boost on the Dow.

ADT surged 49 per cent to $40.03 after private equity firm Apollo Global Management agreed to buy the electronic security services provider for $7 billion. Apollo was up 4.5 per cent at $14.

Community Health Systems slumped 28.2 per cent to $13.40 and weighed on other hospital operators after posting an unexpected quarterly loss. Tenet Healthcare's 8.7 per cent drop was the biggest on the S&P 500.

Groupon surged 40.1 per cent to $4.05 after Alibaba disclosed a 32.9 million stake in the firm. Alibaba was up 6.7 per cent at $64.98. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg/ Reuters/ PA)