Nine of 18 western European markets rally on strong earnings

National benchmark indices advanced in nine of the 18 western-European markets yesterday. Germany's DAX Index climbed 0.3 per cent and France's CAC 40 Index increased 0.4 per cent. Gains in Europe, combined with higher profit forecasts from leading companies to lift stock markets in the United States. In Dublin the Iseq finished up 0.08 per cent to 4,695.98.

DUBLIN

Drinks maker

C&C

finished down 2.33 per cent at €3.93. C&C had an offer rejected for a large pubs company in the UK, but this information only came out last night after the markets closed. Investors will be watching today to see how the market reacts.

Banking stocks had a busy day with Bank of Ireland rising 1.27 per cent to 32 cent, AIB climbing 7.14 per cent to 12 cent and Permanent TSB falling 2.53 per cent to 8 cent.

Chief executives of Irish banks were told yesterday whether they have passed stress tests run by the European Central Bank.

Among other movers Hibernia REIT was up 3.29 per cent to €1.10 and Green REIT was also up 1.84 per cent to €1.27. LONDON Britain's top equity index recovered late yesterday and ended slightly higher, tracking a broad rally in US stocks following some strong earnings results, although a slump in Tesco capped gains.

The UK market was also supported by a 3.4 per cent rise in shares of British Airways owner IAG after Credit Suisse added the company to its "Focus List".

The FTSE 100 index ended up 0.3 per cent at 6.419.15 points, after falling as much as 1.4 per cent during the day. Tesco fell 6.6 per cent, after reporting a bigger than expected hole in its accounts. Tesco's woes also dragged down the shares of rival supermarket groups.

WM Morrison fell 3 per cent and Sainsbury retreated 1.8 per cent.

Property agency Foxtons, listed on the mid-cap FTSE 250 index, slumped 19.6 per cent after the company said its core earnings would fall due to a sharp drop in demand in the London property market.

EUROPE European stocks were little changed, after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index's biggest two- day gain in almost 16 months, as disappointing earnings from companies including Michelin offset better-than-expected euro-area manufacturing data. Michelin retreated 5.4 per cent to €66.68 after saying third- quarter sales dropped 4.6 per cent to €4.89 billion. That missed the €5.01 billion projected by analysts.

Unilever fell 2.5 per cent to €29.54 after the maker of Dove soaps said underlying sales rose 2.1 per cent in the third quarter. Analysts had predicted growth of 3.9 per cent. Unilever forecast difficult market conditions for the rest of the year.

Nokia, which sold its mobile-phone business to Microsoft last year, added 4.4 per cent to €6.80.

Logitech International jumped 6.6 per cent to 12.90 Swiss francs after quarterly earnings jumped. NEW YORK US stock futures advanced after equities halted a four-day rally as higher profit forecasts from companies including Caterpillar and a surprise gain in euro-area manufacturing boosted confidence in the global economy. General Motors advanced and Caterpillar and Boston Scientific rose more than 2 per cent after reporting earnings.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals also climbed after increasing its profit projection. GM gained 2 per cent to $31.95 after saying third-quarter adjusted earnings rose to 97 cents a share, exceeding the average analyst projection of 95 cents. Caterpillar jumped 4.2 per cent to $98.50 after the world's largest maker of construction equipment said it expects full-year earnings excluding one-time items of $6.50 per share, from $6.20 previously. Twitter gained 1.7 per cent to $49.89 as it finds new ways to expand in Chin. Yelp plunged 13 per cent to $61.30. The local-reviews company said fourth-quarter sales would be $107 million to $108 million, below the $111 million estimated on average by analysts. – (Additional reporting Bloomberg, Reuters)