Stronger bank stocks and weaker euro cheer markets

The Iseq rose 2 per cent as European shares climbed to their highest in almost four weeks yesterday, as firmer financial stocks lifted the region’s markets.

The gains were helped by a weakening euro and a reversal of crude oil prices into positive territory.

Sentiment was also underpinned by comments from European Central Bank that it was working on new proposals for non-performing loans that remain one of the biggest problems for the region’s economy.

UK and US stocks joined the rally as hopes grew that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this summer, sparking gains in financial shares. Housing data also reinforced confidence in the strength of the US economy.

DUBLIN

Strong performances from the Iseq’s big guns, especially

Ryanair

, kept the index well in the black yesterday.

A day after reporting positive results, the budget airline was easily the most heavily traded stock on the day, with almost €120 million changing hands, twice that of the next stock, CRH. It finished up 2 per cent.

Datalex, which sells retailing software to airlines, was up 4.6 per cent after it announced further gains in the Chinese market and a partnership with a local IT provider. It was down more than 4 per cent in the morning, before a fight back after lunch.

C&C, the Tipperary cidermaker, was up close to 1 per cent after announcing a partnership deal in China for its Tennents beer brand.

Tullow Oil was up 2 per cent, on the back of the increase in oil prices.

LONDON

The UK rally was broad, with

Tesco, Old Mutual, Legal & General

and

Royal Bank of Scotland

all gaining between 4.8 per cent and 6.8 per cent.

RBS rose after a US appeals court voided a Bank of America mortgage penalty. Investors said this could mean that the Department of Justice might now relax its stance on mortgage settlements.

Financial services firm Old Mutual rallied 5.9 per cent after confirming it had received multiple approaches from potential buyers of its stake in US fund firm Old Mutual Asset Management.

Kingfisher rose 3.5 per cent, among top gainers, after the owner of the B&Q chain reported a 3.6 per cent increase in like-for-like sales in the first three months of its financial year. Traders said its UK and French divisions had performed better than expected.

Tobacco firm Imperial Brands rose 3 per cent, benefiting from an upgrade by Barclays to "overweight".

Coca-Cola HBC, however, was among the top fallers, down 3 per cent after a shareholder said it was going to sell its 1.5 per cent stake in the bottler.

EUROPE

The STOXX Europe 600 Banks Index outperformed with a 3.5 per cent rise.

KBC

and

ING

climbed 5 and 3.9 per cent respectively after Goldman Sachs upgraded them both to “buy” from “neutral”.

Italian bank UniCredit also rose 4.9 per cent ahead of a board meeting expected to formally approve the search for a new chief executive.

Shares in French household equipment manufacturer SEB surged more than 10 per cent as investors welcomed SEB's move to buy WMF, a German maker of coffee machines and silverware, from KKR in a €1.6 billion deal.

NEW YORK

Heading into the afternoon’s trading, banks had surged as Treasury yields climbed toward a three-week high, with

JPMorgan Chase

and

Citigroup

rising at least 1.7 per cent.

Toll Brothers jumped the most in almost three years after the stronger-than-forecast new-home sales data and as the luxury builder's quarterly profit topped estimates.

Twitter fell as much as 4.8 per cent to a record low at $13.72 after MoffetNathanson downgraded the company's stock to "sell". (Additional reporting: Bloomberg/Reuters)