Sparse equity trading in holiday season

European equities ended little changed on Tuesday after swinging between gains and losses amid sparse trading and a lack of catalysts as the Christmas holiday nears. US treasuries fell and US stocks advanced as data showed consumer spending buoyed the US economy in the third quarter amid signs of slowing growth overseas.

DUBLIN

The Dublin market closed down 0.25 per cent, with the Iseq index closing at 6,696.18 on Tuesday.

Bank of Ireland

was one of the star performers, surging 2.1 per cent to finish the day 33 cents.

Irish Residential Properties Reit and Hibernia Reit also performed well, climbing 1.4 per cent and 2 per cent, to finish at €1.15 and €1.40.

Kingspan didn't fare so well on the day, falling 2.9 per cent, to €24.36. Smurfit Kappa, meanwhile, was down 2.5 per cent, to €23.09. Kerry Group fell 0.5 per cent to end the day at €74.13. Ryanair was also down 0.5 per cent, closing at €15.07.

LONDON

London’s FTSE 100 Index was higher as oil stocks lifted after crude prices slumped to 11-year lows in the previous session.

Blue chip oil giants BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell and BP were among those leading gains as the cost of Brent crude stabilised, helping Britain's FTSE index to gain 0.8 per cent.

The top flight rose to 6083.1, with sentiment also helped by hopes of more boosting measures from China after officials in Beijing renewed pledges to promote growth in the world’s second biggest economy.

Perennial bid target ITV jumped almost 4 per cent on Monday on hopes of an £11 billion takeover offer, but was 1 per cent, or 2.7p lower, at 268.8p, after Comcast reportedly said the speculation was "completely inaccurate".

Retailers were under pressure on concerns over the impact of December’s mild weather, which is forcing many clothing chains into heavy early discounting.

Marks & Spencer was the biggest faller in the top flight after a broker downgrade, falling 1 per cent. Other FTSE fallers were Whitbread, down 38p at 4356,p and Rolls-Royce, down 4p at 565.5p.

EUROPE

European stocks ended little changed after a volatile day but energy plays rose as oil prices recovered, while Spanish equities rebounded following a sell-off in the previous session prompted by concerns over a political stalemate.

Crédit Agricole led banks ahead, rising 2.4 per cent after the French lender said it was well above the minimum capital levels that would be required by the European Central Bank starting next month.

Natixis added 1.9 per cent after saying that one capital-ratio measure already exceeded the minimum stipulation.

Finnish software company Innofactor also rose 4 per cent after it announced plans to merge with Swedish Cinteros.

The euro zone’s blue-chip Euro Stoxx 50 index was up 0.04 per cent. Germany’s Dax was 0.2 per cent lower, while the Cac 40 in France was up 0.3 per cent.

US

Stocks rose for a second day as energy producers rallied with crude oil, while data showed consumer spending bolstered the economy amid signs that slowing growth overseas hurt businesses.

Chevron advanced 1.4 per cent in early trading to rise for the first time in four days, and Caterpillar rallied 4 per cent to lead industrial shares. Ford was up 2.7 per cent after it was reported that the carmaker was in talks with Google to help build self-driving cars.

Wal-Mart Stores gained 1.7 percent amid data showing consumers continued to spend

NetApp fell 4.8 per cent after agreeing to buy SolidFire for $870 million in cash. Chipotle Mexican Grill lost 4 per cent amid an investigation into its links to a new spate of illnesses in three additional states.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 80.34 points, or 0.5 per cent. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters