US stocks were little changed in a volatile session
yesterday, setting all three indexes up for a weekly decline, as concerns over tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalated ahead of this weekend's referendum in Crimea.
Curbing investors' enthusiasm for equities, Russia's navy said fighter jets had started training exercises over the Mediterranean Sea, an announcement likely to raise tensions in the standoff with Ukraine. In Europe exchanges fell on similar negative sentiment.
DUBLIN
In Dublin the ISEQ benchmark index of leading Irish shares finished down 1.82 per cent at 4,875.37. I
ndependent News & Media
fell by 1.17 per cent to 17c. The media firm announced on Thursday it made an operating profit of €32.7 million in 2013, in its last full year results under chief executive Vincent Crowley. Brokers said the fall back was due to some "profit-taking" after the stock rose by 15.5 per cent on Thursday.
CPL Resources , the recruitment company, nudged back 1.93 per cent to €19.69. In a note Investec said results from UK rival SThree plc, the specialist staffing business, for its first quarter showed group gross profit increased by 9 per cent in constant currency to £47.8m. Investec said the news augured well for the Irish company.
Fyffes
fell back 2.46 per cent to €1.19 after the stock jumped at the start of the week on news that it planned to merge with fellow banana distributor Chiquita.
LONDON
UK stocks fell for a sixth day, the longest streak since November 2011, before Crimea holds a referendum on whether to leave Ukraine and join Russia.
Bank of Georgia Holdings Plc
retreated 7.3 per cent as an investor pulled a share sale.
J Sainsbury Plc
added 2.9 percent, rebounding its biggest slump since October 2008 yesterday.
Boohoo. com
rallied 40 per cent on the online fashion retailer's first day of trading. The FTSE 100 Index slid 25.89 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 6,527.89 at the close of trading in London.
Sainsbury
gained 2.9 per cent to 313.6 pence, after plunging 8.5 percent yesterday.
EUROPE
European shares slid lower as tensions in Ukraine sent a pan-European equity index down to its lowest level in more than a month. The uncertainty over Crimea also caused a spike in volatility in equity markets.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which rose 16 per cent in 2013, closed down by 0.7 per cent at 1,284.32 points – marking its lowest level since early February.
The euro zone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index also fell 0.5 per cent to 3,004.64 points while the Euro STOXX 50 Volatility Index – a gauge of investors’ fears – surged 5.1 per cent to its highest level since early February.
"Europe relies on Ukraine for a lot of its gas, so if there are problems in Ukraine, it will have an impact on Europe's fragile economic growth," said Caroline Vincent, European equities fund manager at Cavendish Asset Management.
Aurel BGC chartist Gerard Sagnier said European stock markets could fall by another 5 percent, although he added that such a retreat could represent a good buying opportunity, given expectations that European equities should recover later in 2014 as the region's economic pick-up gradually continues.
US
General Mills Inc
fell 2 per cent to $49.98. It warned third-quarter earnings would fall below analysts' expectations as it faces increased competition from store brands and spends more on marketing its yogurts.
General Motors Co gained 1.7 per cent to $34.37. The automaker is facing increasing pressure to compensate victims for an ignition defect that prompted the recall of 1.6 million vehicles.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co jumped 6.1 per cent to $24.20 after reporting fourth-quarter earnings ahead of Wall Street estimates. – (Additional reporting Bloomberg, Reuters.)
