US rally boosts sentiment in London

The London market followed Wall Street higher in a volatile session after a rally on US shares boosted sentiment.

The FTSE 100 Index finished 17.7 points higher at 6736.2. Wall Street cheered as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment group said it would buy the maker of industrial components Precision Castparts for $32 billion.

DUBLIN

Irish Residential Properties Reit reported a pre-tax profit of €14.8 million for the six months to the end of June, on the back of increasing monthly rents and high occupancy levels.

The group said it has acquired a further 362 apartments for the total purchase price of €110.6 million in the six months to the end of June, bringing its total number of apartments to 1,566. The stock closed at €1.11, a fall of 2.20 per cent.

Bank of Ireland shares closed the day at €0.37, a rise of 0.54 per cent, while CRH closed at €27.78, a rise of 1.15 per cent. IFG fell 4.65 per cent, to €2.05.

The Iseq index of Irish shares closed at 6,587.33, representing a rise of 0.05 per cent.

LONDON

In London, Rio Tinto was the highest riser on the topflight leaderboard up almost 2 per cent, or 47.5p to 2635p, while BHP Billiton rose 18p to 1209p and Antofagasta climbed 4.5p to 594p.

Banks were under pressure after reports that billions of pounds more might be added to their bills for compensating customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), for failing to disclose commission payments they received.

Lloyds Banking Group, whose own PPI bill has now topped £13 billion, fell 1 per cent, or 0.8p, to 81.3p. Royal Bank of Scotland – also backed by the taxpayer – fell 1.6p to 343.9p. HSBC dropped 3.6p to 584.1p, although Barclays rose 1.4p to 282.6p.

Elsewhere, Carphone Warehouse owner Dixons Carphone was down earlier in the session after it revealed the personal details of up to 2.4 million people may have been stolen when a division of the mobile phone business was hit by a cyber attack. But shares lifted 1.7p, to 457.7p.

Sheilas’ Wheels owner Esure was the big faller on the FTSE 250 Index, down 11 per cent after it said it was planning to drive up premiums after half-year profits in its motor insurance underwriting business fell by four-fifths.

Underlying pre-tax profits across the group, which also owns price comparison website Gocompare, fell 21 per cent to £46.5 million. Shares slid 25.5p to 240p.

EUROPE

European stock markets climbed with the euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index and Germany’s DAX both growing 1 per cent, while France’s CAC advanced by 0.8 per cent.

Athens’ main stock market also advanced 2.1 per cent on signs that a new Greek bailout deal was on its way, although the Greek market remains down 17 per cent since the start of 2015 due to the country’s debt problems.

German insurer Allianz rose 2.6 per cent after price target upgrades from JP Morgan, Berenberg and Exane BNP Paribas.

Shares in Italy’s Banco Popolare also climbed 3.6 per cent after the company reported a rise in profits late on Friday.

NEW YORK

US stocks rose the most in almost two weeks on corporate deal activity and a rally in commodities. Gains in assets from oil to copper revived speculation the inflation rate may accelerate, sending treasuries lower.

Energy and mining shares surged as the Bloomberg Commodity Index jumped the most since June. Oil advanced 1.9 per cent in New York, and copper rallied 2.9 percent.

Commodities advanced from a 13-year low, with a surge in Chinese imports bolstering crude, while Federal Reserve vice chairman Stanley Fischer said stubbornly low US inflation won’t persist with the economy near full employment.