EUROPEAN STOCKS posted their biggest weekly drop since March as Spain entered a recession, a report showed the US economy added fewer workers than expected, and investors awaited elections in France and Greece this weekend.
DUBLIN
THE ISEQ index was down 2.8 per cent yesterday, underperforming the rest of Europe, where markets were broadly down about 2 per cent. Volumes across the board were decent, analysts said.
Impressive results from Smurfit Kappa in the morning saw its stock up by 5 per cent at one point. Volumes were 2½ times normal and, though the stock closed flat at €6.40, analysts said this was down to a weak market in the afternoon rather than issues with the stock itself.
A drilling update from Tullow Oil indicating that one of its wells in Ghana was not commercial, combined with an overall drop in oil prices, resulted in Tullow’s stock closing down 4.4 per cent or 84 cent at €18.20.
While the drop in oil prices is likely to help airlines in the medium term, Ryanair was down marginally yesterday, by less than 0.5 per cent, or two cent, to €4.41.
Aer Lingus declared a three cent per-share dividend, which, though described by one analyst as “good in the context of other low-cost carriers around Europe”, failed to impress investor Ryanair. Its share price hovered around the €1 mark, closing down 1.52 per cent or one cent at 97 cent.
There were strong volumes in Independent News Media, which closed down 8.2 per cent or two cent at 29 cent.
LONDON
UK STOCKS tumbled the most in more than four weeks after a US jobs report missed forecasts and as investors kept an eye on European elections this weekend.
The FTSE 100 index declined 1.9 per cent to 5,655.06 at the close in London, its biggest drop since April 10th. That extended the benchmark measure’s loss this week to 2.1 per cent.
Antofagasta dropped 3.3 per cent to 1,072 pence, extending its slump this week to 11 per cent. The copper producer yesterday reported a 13 per cent decline in first-quarter output.
BHP Billiton retreated 3.9 per cent to 1,918 pence as copper fell after the US payrolls report. Kazakhmys tumbled 6.2 per cent to 774 pence and Xstrata slipped 3.1 per cent to 1,131.5 pence.
BG Group slid 4.3 per cent to 1,364 pence. Royal Dutch Shell Group, Europe’s largest oil producer, lost 2 per cent to 2,142 pence, while BP lost 3.1 per cent to 422.15 pence.
Builders also declined after a Halifax report showed UK house prices fell 2.4 per cent in April. Barratt Developments tumbled 7.5 per cent to 124.3 pence, Persimmon slid 5.8 per cent to 589.5 pence and Taylor Wimpey sank 7.7 per cent to 47.69 pence.
Debenhams, the UK’s second-biggest department-store company, lost 6.1 per cent to 80.2 pence as Liberum Capital downgraded the shares to sell.
Home Retail Group, the owner of Argos and Homebase, slipped 2.7 per cent to 81.1 pence. The stock has plunged 25 per cent this week, the biggest drop since the company was split off from GUS in 2006, after saying on May 2nd that it will not pay a final dividend.
EUROPE
EUROPEAN SHARES fell sharply yesterday with worse-than-expected jobs data from the US dealing a fresh blow to recovery hopes. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index closed down 17.32 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 1,027.07 points and the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 37.83 points, also 1.7 per cent, to 2,249.27.
Randstad Holding led losses in recruitment companies, sinking more than 5 per cent.
Wacker Chemie, the world’s second-biggest maker of solar-grade silicon, slumped 5.7 per cent after net income dropped.
Belgacom, Belgium’s largest phone company, advanced 1.2 per cent to €21.74 after first-quarter profit of €199 million beat the average €194 million analyst estimate.
US
US stocks declined for a third day, giving the Standard and Poor’s 500 index its worst week in 2012, after the data showing employers added fewer jobs than forecast intensified concern about the pace of economic recovery.
Energy shares in the SP 500 slumped 2.2 per cent after oil fell below $100 a barrel for the first time since February. Chevron sank 2.1 per cent to $103.72. Bank of America slid 3.3 per cent to $7.74. Intel fell 2.3 per cent to $27.90. Insurer AIG tumbled 3.8 per cent to $32.83.
LinkedIn surged 7.2 per cent to $117.30, the highest price since its market debut in May 2011. The professional networking website reported first-quarter sales and profit that beat analysts’ estimates amid a jump in membership.
The Nasdaq-100 index slid 2.5 per cent, the most since November, as Apple slipped 2.9 per cent to $565.25. About 7.1 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, or 7 per cent above the three-month average. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg)
Eurostoxx 50: 2,248.34 (-1.69%) Paris CAC:3,161.97 (-1.90%) Frankfurt DAX:6,561.47 (-1.99%)
