Oil gains offset sharp fall in Swiss equities

European markets rose as oil company gains helped to counterbalance a sharp fall in Swiss equities sparked by the country’s national bank decision to ditch a currency exchange peg with the euro.

Market watchers suggested the move was in anticipation of the European Central Bank launching an asset-buying programme next week in an effort to revive the euro zone economy and counter deflation.

DUBLIN

Index heavyweight and international building materials group

CRH

added 1.17 per cent to close at €19.83.

Aer Lingus, which has rejected two takeover approaches from International Consolidated Airlines Group over the last month, gained 0.36 cents to close at €2.48. The shares remain below the €2.50 high at which they ended last week. Sources speculate that any bid for the company will top €2.60.

Rival Ryanair was down 1.7 per cent at €9.65.

On the industrial front, packaging group, Smurfit Kappa was off 1.6 per cent at €20.34.

Bookmaker Paddy Power, which emerged as the sponsor of former France, Spurs and Newcastle forward David Ginola's bid for the presidency of international soccer body Fifa, was up 1.19 per cent at €65.56.

LONDON

BP

climbed 5.3 per cent to 413.35p after a US judge ruled it had dumped less oil into the Gulf of

Mexico

in 2010 than the government had calculated, cutting the maximum fine the company faces.

Irish-based exploration group Tullow added 2.76 per cent to close at 364.7p as oil rose 1.6 per cent to $47.01 a barrel in New York. Earlier in the week the group signalled it was preparing to cut costs across its operations, which span 24 countries.

Miner Glencore was the second-biggest top-flight riser, up almost 5 per cent to 252.55p, Anglo American gained 40p to 1099.5p and Fresnillo was 29.5p higher at 884.5p.

The biggest fallers were Easyjet, down 45p at 1600p, Meggit, down 9p at 509p, Associated British Foods, down 54p at 3093p and Wolseley, down 63p at 3632p.

EUROPE

Swiss stocks tumbled as the impact of its national bank’s decision dawned on investors.

UBS slid 5 per cent, Credit Suisse slid 6 per cent, following an 11 per cent drop the previous day. Nestlé, Novartis and Roche Holding dropped at least 3.9 per cent. Stocks of Swiss exporters rebounded, while watchmakers Cie, Financiere Richemont and Swatch extended losses.

Oil and gas supermajor Total climbed 3.22 per cent to close at €43.30 as oil prices crept back up.

German utility RWE surged 4.4 per cent, the most since January 14th, 2014, in Frankfurt on heavy trading sparked by news that it plans to sell its Dea oil and gas unit by March for about €5 billion, slightly less than originally agreed.

Deutsche Telekom ticked up 0.97 per cent to €14.05, following a report that it had considered bidding for Dutch player KPN last year, and may yet revive its interest.

KPN climbed 3.78 per cent to end at €2.58. The company has a market capitalisation of close to €11 billion and is regarded as relatively cheap, according to reports from Bloomberg.

French retailing giant Carrefour surged 3.93 per cent to €27.38 after it reported that sales growth accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2014.

US

Shares bounced back from five losing days on gains in energy stocks and following news that both consumer sentiment and factory output are up.

Among the biggest energy gainers, shares of Schlumberger, the world's biggest oilfield services provider, jumped 5 per cent after it said the oil price drop was likely to have a "significantly more dramatic" impact on North America than on the rest of the world. Schlumberger derives two-thirds of its revenue from operations outside North America.

Halliburton shares gained 4.1 per cent. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters)