Gold prices plunged to their lowest in more than five years, at one point dropping by 4 per cent, as the dollar hit a three-month high against a basket of major currencies on expectations that US interest rates are set to rise. The US equity market was flat in early trading, while European bourses posted modest gains.
DUBLIN Kingspan was the star of the day on the Dublin exchange, closing at €23.10, a rise of 3.13 per cent. Traders noted that volume was low but marked a continuation of the stock’s recent strong display.
An upgrade by Standard and Poor of Bank of Ireland’s rating came too late in the day to affect the stock, which closed up 1.35 per cent at €0.37. The ratings agency nudged the bank up to BBB+, the lowest of the investment grades. It is the first Irish bank to achieve such a grade since the financial crisis.
Tullow Oil fell 6 per cent to €3.90. CRH closed at €26.88, a drop of 0.04 per cent. The Iseq index of Irish shares closed at 6,502.79, up 0.34 per cent.
LONDON The London market edged higher as banks grabbed the investor spotlight, with Standard Chartered announcing a shake-up and Barclays reportedly planning to axe 30,000 jobs. Asia-focused Standard Chartered said changes included a newlook management committee and a slimmer regional structure. Shares rose almost 1 per cent, or 9.5p, to 1,026.5p as the wider FTSE 100 Index added 13.6 points to 6,788.7.
HSBC, also largely focused on Asia, was up 6.5p to 586.7p.
Market sentiment was broadly positive as Greece’s banks reopened their doors, with fears easing about the debt crisis that left it on the brink of a euro exit.
In currencies, the pound edged back after gains at the end of last week on comments by Bank of England governor Mark Carney on the timing of an interest rate hike. Sterling was lower against the dollar, at just below $1.56, and against the euro, at a little under €1.44.
Barclays declined to comment on a report in the Times that it was set to deepen job cuts after chief executive Antony Jenkins was fired this month.With the bank expected to clarify the strategy when it publishes half-year results next week, shares rose 0.8p to 280.9p.
EUROPE European stocks headed for their highest level since May amid takeovers and receding concerns about Greece. OCI rallied 14 per cent after CF Industries Holdings said it was in preliminary talks on a combination with some businesses of the Dutch fertiliser maker.
The German Dax and the French Cac indices both increased by more than 0.5 per cent. Italy’s FTSE MIB Index was among the biggest gainers in western European markets.
Mediobanca led the gains, adding 4 per cent, as Bank of America reinstated a buy rating on the stock. The Athens Stock Exchange remained closed.
NEW YORK Wall Street was higher in early-afternoon trading as better-than-expected earnings from big companies overshadowed a fall in commodities.
Shortly after trading began, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added to its gains from last week and touched a record for the third straight day.
Gold prices plunged as much as 4 per cent to their lowest in more than five years, while copper prices hit their lowest in nearly two weeks. Oil prices fell, too, on signs of a growing glut in refined products.
Strong earnings from Google on Friday pushed the tech-heavy Nasdaq to a record close, which gained 4.3 per cent for the week, its largest weekly gain since October while the S&P 500 stopped just short of its record high.
Tech earnings will continue to be in focus this week with IBM reporting after the close yesterday and other tech giants, such as Apple, Yahoo and Microsoft, expected to report later this week.
In late afternoon, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 34.74 points at 18,121.19. – (Additional reporting: PA, Bloomberg, Reuters)
