Auto and oil sectors lift European stocks

The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecasts for a second time this year, citing weak commodity prices and a slowdown in China. Markets decided

this meant the ECB and the Fed were likely to maintain low interest rates policies, seen to be friendly to equity markets.

DUBLIN

A number of key stocks continued to bounce back while there was heavy trading in Bank of Ireland shares as investors used it as a way to get exposure to Europe’s fastest-growing economy.

However the Iseq index of Irish shares closed at 6,287.64, a rise of just 0.34 per cent, which was below many of its European peers.

Smurfit, which rose almost 1 per cent on Monday, jumped a further 3.46 per cent, to close at €24.50, while Kingspan, which gained 1.87 per cent on Monday, gained a further 2.70 per cent to close at €21.86. Market heavyweight CRH, which added 2.9 per cent on Monday, closed at €23.98, a rise of 0.97 per cent.

While there was a lot of interest in Bank of Ireland, there was also a lot of profit taking, and the share closed at €0.36, unchanged on the day.

Aryzta, which has been on the road selling its attractions, closed at €42.69, a rise of 4.58 per cent.

LONDON

The London market made modest gains, although drinks giant and takeover target

SABMiller

saw its shares come under pressure after reports suggested it is likely to reject a £70 billion takeover offer.

The Peroni and Grolsch firm – which is in talks with suitor Anheuser-Busch InBev over a potential blockbuster deal – saw its shares fall almost 4 per cent on fears that a deal that would mark the biggest ever takeover of a British company is unravelling.

The FTSE 100 Index was up 27.2 points at 6326.2, with commodity stocks leading the market.

Under-pressure trader and miner Glencore’s dramatic rise in the previous session had helped the FTSE 100 jump 169 points on Monday, and after being lower earlier in the session it rose for the second day in a row.

Glencore was up 2.9p at 118p, after rising 21 per cent on Monday on reports that it is in talks to sell its agriculture unit, valued at about $10 billion.

Other mining stocks also rose, with Anglo American up 24.7p to 604.2p and Fresnillo 20p higher to 672.5p.

EUROPE

European shares closed higher, led by stocks. Both the Germany Dax and the French Cac 40 were up approximately 1 per cent. New data showed industrial orders in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, dropped mainly because demand from non-euro zone countries weakened.

Renault rose 5.75 per cent on speculation about potential developments in the French carmaker's alliance with Japanese partner Nissan.

Volkswagen rose 3.8 per cent after its new CEO warned staff to brace for "massive cutbacks" in response to the scandal.

Bouygues Telecom rose 3.6 per cent. France's third-largest mobile operator said it aimed to improve its profit margins and sales in coming years as it defends its standalone strategy.

Shares in TeliaSonera fell 2.4 per cent. A newspaper reported US authorities may seek damages as high as 8 billion krona from the Swedish telecoms operator in relation to an investigation of alleged corruption in Uzbekistan.

NEW YORK

US stocks fell in afternoon trading as a rout in healthcare stocks resumed and an IMF report added to worries about global growth.

DuPont rose 10 per cent to $56.41 after CEO Ellen Kullman said she would step down. The stock gave the biggest boost to the S&P and the Dow, where it added nearly 38 points. Allegran was down 4.7 per cent at $265.41 and was the biggest drag on the S&P health index. – (Additional reporting Press Association, Reuters)