Global losses for the year erased as gloom over China lifts

Global equities erased losses for the year, with US stocks at a four-month high, and commodities advanced as the cloud that China cast over financial markets starts to lift.

The UK market, rich in miners, advanced, with the FTSE 100 Index turning positive for 2016. Lenders, which suffered the most in the first quarter, surged 6.1 percent.

In Ireland, the Iseq Overall Index rose by 1.8 per cent to 6,284.06. DUBLIN Bank of Ireland was a big mover on the day with more than 300 million shares changing hands as it ticked up 2 per cent to 25 cent on a day of strong sentiment across Europe towards financial stocks.

Smurfit Kappa rose by more than 3 per cent to €24.165 while Ryanair finished 2.95 per cent higher at €13.44.

Shares in Irish oil and gas explorer Providence Resources were suspended on the ESM in Dublin and AIM in London before it revealed it will have to pay offshore drilling company Transocean $7 million plus an additional sum in interest and legal costs following a ruling by London’s Court of Appeal.

The Tony O’Reilly jnr-led company said it was in discussions with its main creditor to ensure it could satisfy its financial obligation to Transocean. LONDON Britain’s top share index rose, led by mining and banks stocks, as strong Chinese export data helped to subdue concern over growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

China’s exports rose in March for the first time in nine months, a sign of economic stabilisation in the world’s largest consumer of many commodities. That lifted metals prices and mining stocks, with the sector up 6.9 per cent. Oil and gas shares also rallied, as Brent crude remained over $44 a barrel.

BHP Billiton rose 9.2 per cent. Plans to cut jobs at a copper mine in Chile also helped the shares.

The FTSE 100 advanced 1.9 per cent to close at 6,362.99 points, its highest level in more than four months.

Lenders Standard Chartered and Barclays also rallied more than 7 per cent. Berkeley Group rose 2.7 percent after London's biggest home builder won approval to develop as many as 652 homes at a parking lot in the west of the city.

Tesco fell 7.8 percent after its full-year results beat expectations. Britain's biggest retailer was cautious on its near-term outlook and said a price war in the sector would put pressure on profits. EUROPE The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 2.5 per cent in London, with more than 500 of its members rallying. The gauge extended a rebound after posting four consecutive weeks of losses, the longest run since 2014.

Italy’s FTSE MIB Index was the biggest gainer among markets in western Europe, up 4.1 percent. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna and UniCredit rallied more than 10 per cent.

The nation came up with a plan to help the troubled firms, which led the industry down at the beginning of the year. NEW YORK US stocks had extended gains for a second day by lunchtime to reach the highest level of the year, buoyed by improving Chinese trade data and better-than-expected results from JPMorgan Chase , the biggest US lender by assets.

JPMorgan advanced 4.3 per cent after reporting first-quarter profit was boosted by pay cuts and trading revenue that declined less than most analysts predicted.

Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup, scheduled to release results later this week, climbed at least 2.4 percent.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.7 per cent to 2,075.48 in New York, the highest level of the year.

Most stocks in the 30-member Dow Jones Industrial Average increased, as the measure climbed 0.8 per cent to 17,858.73. – (Additional reporting by Bloomberg and Reuters)