National benchmark indexes fell in every western European market except for Greece and Iceland as investors weighed data that showed a manufacturing contraction in China and an increase in purchases of previously owned US houses.
France’s CAC 40 dropped 1 per cent. Germany’s DAX lost 0.9 per cent. The FTSE 100 Index lost 53.05 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 6,773.28 at the close of trading in London.
In Dublin, the Iseq overall index was down 0.79 per cent at 4,815.08, with traders saying the exchange “fell in line with Europe”.
DUBLIN
Ryanair fell back 0.52 per cent to €6.84. Ryanair has announced that its flights are now available using Google Flight Search but traders said it would "take a while" to see what this meant for revenues. Aer Lingus fell almost 1 per cent to €1.43.
Independent News & Media, the country's biggest newspaper publisher, fell 3.95 per cent to 17c. Fifty journalists and subeditors are to lose their jobs after editorial outsourcing company Real-time Editing and Design Limited, whose biggest client is INM, told staff they were closing their Dublin office. "More cuts are expected," according to traders.
Green REIT advanced 0.75 per cent to €1.35. Stockbroker Davy said in a note yesterday: "We are excited about the recovery potential of the Irish commercial real estate market; Green REIT, in particular, offers a high-quality exposure to this opportunity." Ireland's second REIT, Hibernia, was unchanged at €1.10.
LONDON
UK stocks declined as EasyJet fell 4.1 per cent after forecasting a wider first-half pretax loss. Pearson, the publisher of the Financial Times, tumbled the most in more than 13 years after saying it probably spent more on reorganisation last year than projected.
EasyJet declined 4.1 per cent to 1,672 pence. Europe's second-biggest discount airline said pretax loss in the six months through March 31st will be £70 million to £90 million, compared with a loss of £61 million a year earlier. Last year's sales included Easter holiday revenue, while this year, the festival falls in its second half, the company said.
Marks and Spencer advanced 2.6 per cent to 493.2 pence after Exane raised the shares to outperform from underperform, meaning investors should buy the stock. The brokerage predicted the company's profits will rise 40 per cent in three years.
EUROPE
European stocks dropped from a six-year high as a report showed manufacturing in China probably contracted this month, and media and technology companies slid.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1 per cent to 332.69 at the close of trading, its biggest decline in more than seven weeks.
The equity gauge has still gained 1.4 per cent so far this year, led by a rally in banks. The index trades at 14 times its members' projected earnings after ending 2013 at its highest value.
Inditex and Asos fell 1.9 per cent to €116.65 and 7.8 per cent to 6,296 pence, respectively, as Goldman Sachs Group lowered its rating on the stocks to neutral from buy based on their valuations. Inditex, which owns the Zara clothing chain, traded at 29.7 times estimated earnings yesterday, more than the 16.2 multiple for a gauge of retailers on the Stoxx 600.
Asos rallied 11 per cent from the beginning of the year through yesterday to 107 times profit.
NEW YORK
US stocks fell, giving the Standard & Poor's 500 Index its first drop in three days, after a gauge of China's manufacturing contracted and investors analysed corporate earnings.
Cliffs Natural Resources slipped 2.8 per cent, following European commodity producers lower. JPMorgan Chase and American Express slid at least 2.2 per cent to pace losses among financial firms.
American Eagle Outfitters lost 9.6 per cent after saying its chief executive officer is leaving.
