Stock markets: Weak euro boosts European shares

European shares rose yesterday, supported by a weak euro but against the background of concerns for political stability in Portugal.

DUBLIN Permanent TSB rose 4.94 per cent to €4.25 on the back of an interim management statement in which it said financial performance improved in the third quarter of the year and predicted a fall in loan losses as the economy improves. The bank, 75 per cent State-owned, also noted mortgage lending was not growing as fast as expected. Kingspan, which said earlier this week it expected to earn €250 million in trading profits this year, rose 3.64 per cent to €24.20. CRH slid 1.1 per cent to €25.25 after more than 650,000 of its shares changed hands in Dublin.Smurfit Kappa fell 1.46 per cent to €26. Ryanair inched up 0.28 per cent to close at €14.54.

LONDON Irish-based and London-listed distribution group DCC climbed 8.22 per cent to 5,795p after reporting operating profit in the six months to the end of September soared by 26.1 per cent to £88.4 million. Utilities stocks fell on a series of broker target price cuts and analysts' concerns over the performance of high-yielding stocks such as utility companies amid potential rate hikes based on Friday's US jobs data.

Financial companies, which perform well when rates rise, were in demand. Aberdeen Asset Management, Standard Chartered, Barclays and HSBC were up 1-2.9 per cent. Shares in Intu Properties, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Barratt Developments fell 2.3-3.2 per cent.

Intercontinental Hotels Group fell nearly 4 per cent after saying it was not considering a potential sale or merger of the company. Miners led the index higher, with Glencore up 1.7 per cent, Rio Tinto up 1.5 per cent, Anglo American rising 1.2 per cent and Antofagasta up 1.1 per cent on the back of dollar weakness. EUROPE The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.1 per cent to 376.27 at the close of trading, after earlier falling as much as 0.7 per cent and rising 0.4 per cent. With Friday's US jobs data increasing the chances of the Fed raising interest rates this year, investors are speculating on whether the global economy can continue its recovery, while China data keeps disappointing.

Portuguese stocks were among the worst performers in western Europe. The PSI 20 Index slid as much as 2.3 per cent, before paring losses to 0.3 per cent, as an alliance of opposition parties prepares to vote prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho’s government out of power.

Greece's ASE Index lost the most, falling 1.7 per cent, as Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank and Eurobank Ergasias tumbled at least 17 per cent. Ericsson dropped 6.2 per cent and Delta Lloyd declined 13 per cent to its lowest price since at least 2009. Switzerland wealth manager Julius Baer Group fell 2.7 per cent. Vallourec tumbled 10 per cent. A gauge of telecommunication companies posted the best performance of the 19 industry groups on the Stoxx 600. Royal KPN climbed 3.1 per cent after saying it sold shares in Telefonica Deutschland Holding. US Stocks were lower in early afternoon trade, dragged down by Apple and rate hike predictions. Apple's shares fell 2.8 per cent to $117.22 after Credit Suisse said the company had cut component orders by as much as 10 per cent, indicating weakening demand for its new iPhones. The stock was the biggest drag on the three major indexes.

Apple suppliers Skyworks, Avago, Cirrus Logic and Qorvo were down between 3.7-7 per cent. Anadarko Petroleum was down 5.6 per cent at $64.08 after Bloomberg reported it had approached Apache with a takeover proposal. Apache fell 3.1 per cent to $52.26. Gap fell 3.7 per cent to $26.66 after its comparable sales fell more than expected in October.