European shares up but Iseq falls as Ukraine fears drag down Petroneft

The benchmark Iseq Overall Index closed down 21.03 points, or 0.4pc, at 4,783.13 points, erasing some of the gains seen over the previous four days.

Among the decliners was Petroneft which closed down 11pc at 8 cents amid concern about an escalation of the crisis in the Ukraine. IFG, which announced the sale of its Irish unit on Thursday, slipped 2.1pc to 1.61.

Among the gainers was Irish Continental which extended gains following bullish results on Thursday, advancing 2.4pc to €2.95. Irish Residential Property advanced 0.6pc to €1.04 after announcing that it will buy flats in several parts of Dublin.

The Reit will become the biggest private landlord in the country if the deal goes through.

European stocks advanced, posting their first monthly gain since May, as drugmakers climbed, outweighing a slump in Tesco shares.

AstraZeneca climbed 2pc, leading a gain by health-care companies, after a report that Pfizer may have resumed takeover talks. Tesco dropped 6.6pc after lowering its full-year profit forecast and its interim dividend.

The Stoxx 600 gained 0.3pc in London, erasing a decline of as much as 0.4pc in the final half an hour of trading.

The benchmark dropped 0.7pc on Thursday as evidence mounted that Russian troops have made an incursion into eastern Ukraine.

Twelve out of 18 national benchmark indexes in Western Europe rose yesterday. Germany's DAX added 0.1pc, while France's CAC 40 gained 0.3pc. The UK's FTSE 100 increased 0.2pc

Volumes were around average.