Investors hold back ahead of US Fed data

Markets ended the week down as investors held back ahead of next week’s decision by the US Federal Reserve on whether to raise interest rates.

European shares retreated with equities in China, while oil dropped below $45 a barrel and copper slipped for the first time in five days.

DUBLIN

It was a very quiet day on the Dublin market, with thin volumes. The Iseq index ended the day down 0.7 per cent, or 47 points, on a par with its European peers. It closed at 6,447.56.

Origin Enterprises and Applegreen were among the biggest movers. Origin Enterprises jumped 2.7 per cent to €7.47, while Applegreen was up 1.6 per cent to €4.98.

CRH declined 1.3 per cent to finish the day on €26.11. Glanbia was also down, falling 1.1 per cent to €17.47, Ryanair fell 0.7 per cent to €13.62.

Datalex was among the biggest decliners, losing 4.5 per cent to €2.10.

LONDON

Glencore, this year's worst performer on the UK benchmark share index, had its biggest weekly gain in more than three years on London's stock market as the miner and commodity trader unveiled a $10 billion plan to cut debt.

The shares rose 0.7 per cent to close at 133.80 pence, extending their advance this week to 8.6 per cent, the biggest jump since February 2012.

B&Q owner Kingfisher was a blue-chip riser after analysts at UBS upgraded the stock to a "buy" ahead of half-year results next week.

The FTSE 100 Index fell for the second session in a row by 38.1 points or 0.6 per cent to 6117.8, though London’s top-flight still finished well ahead of its closing level last Friday of 6042.9 after a topsy-turvy week. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index were BAE Systems, Hikma Pharmaceuticals and Kingfisher.

EUROPE

European shares fell for a second straight day, led lower by Swiss drugmaker Actelion.

Actelion shares slid 5.4 per cent, the biggest decline in the index. HSBC analysts said a bid by Actelion for ZS Pharma might destroy value for its shareholders, after Bloomberg reported that Actelion had made an offer worth $2.5 billion. The companies confirmed they had held talks but not whether they were related to an acquisition.

Shares in Germany's biggest utility, E.ON, fell 4.4 per cent, extending the previous session's decline. The stock had dropped 5 per cent to a 20-year low on Thursday after the company abandoned plans to spin off its German nuclear power plants, leaving it with liability for billions of euro of costs when they are shut down.

The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 1 per cent, ending a three-day rally. Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 were down by about 1 per cent

NEW YORK

US stocks fluctuated amid light volume, with equities on track for their best weekly gain since July, as Gilead Sciences and UnitedHealth boosted health- care shares to offset declines in energy.

Gilead rose 2.2 per cent, while UnitedHealth added 1.5 per cent to pace a climb in health-care that helped equities erase earlier declines.

Energy companies slumped as oil prices fell. Hess and Transocean lost at least 4.1 per cent. Supermarket chain Kroger rose 4.9 per cent after raising its earnings forecast.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index added 0.1 per cent to 1,953.72 at 12.36pm in New York, after earlier falling as much as 0.7 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 50.48 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 16,380.88, erasing an earlier slide of nearly 86 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.1 per cent.

– (Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters)