FTSE hits new record as miners help European shares inch up

Stocks rose worldwide on Tuesday supported by a rally in commodities such as copper and precious metals, while the dollar fell on investor caution ahead of a news conference by US president-elect Donald Trump later this week.

European stock markets, which had opened broadly lower, edged back towards recent one-year peaks, with the broad FTSEurofirst 300 index adding 0.2 per cent at 1,439.87 and the FTSE 100 hitting yet another new record.

Wall Street shares traded higher in early trading with the Nasdaq reaching a record intraday high, extending its bullish run as healthcare stocks rose for the sixth straight session.

Dublin

The Iseq closed in line with other European indices on Tuesday, ending the day up 0.33 per cent at 6,596.12.

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Paper and packaging group Smurfit Kappa was the biggest gainer with its stock jumping 3.6 per cent to €24.14 after one of its peers announced a price increase in Europe this week. There is anticipation Smurfit intends to do the same over the next few weeks.

Italian bank weakness hit Bank of Ireland and other European financial institutions, with BoI 2.3 per cent lower at 23.3 cents.

Iseq heavyweight CRH continues to perform well, boosted by investor optimism about the benefits of a Trump presidency. It was up 0.76 per cent on Tuesday to €32.29.

Listed recruitment firm CPL Resources, which is due to publish interim results later this month, was up 3.4 per cent to €5.53 on low volumes after peer Robert Walters reported a sharp rise in full-year gross profit.

London

Britain’s FTSE 100 blue-chip index hit fresh record highs on Tuesday, up 0.5 per cent to 7,284.81 and benefiting from gains among retailers.

Morrisons was among the top gainers in London after Christmas trading results exceeded expectations. Its shares ended up 3.6 per cent in heavy volumes.

Britain's largest retailer Tesco rose 6 per cent after market research showed it had the fastest sales growth of the country's four major players.

The fast-food delivery company, Just Eat, was down 6.9 per cent after reporting full-year order growth of 42 per cent but failing to beat its estimates.

Irish-founded oil company Tullow, whose shares rose 2.7 per cent in London on Monday after news it is to sell a stake in a Ugandan oil project to French group Total for $900 million, gave up some of its gain to end down 3 per cent.

Europe

A rally in mining stocks more than offset weaker financials, helping European shares end the day slightly in positive territory.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index inched up 0.1 per cent, while France’s CAC 40 was flat and Germany’s DAX added 0.2 per cent.

The European insurance and banking sectoral indexes fell 0.6 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively, with Commerzbank down 0.7 per cent on a UBS downgrade to "sell", and Deutsche Bank down 2.4 per cent.

In Lisbon, Banco Commercial Portugues fell 11.3 per cent to a fresh record low after the bank approved a heavily dilutive cash call to boost its capital position. Spain's Banco Popular led the Madrid IBEX lower, falling 2.7 per cent.

Wall Street

The Nasdaq hit a record intraday high of 5,553.69 early on Tuesday as its good run continues.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo were up about 1 per cent. However, Goldman Sachs was down 0.6 per cent after Citigroup rating cut due to lofty valuations. Healthcare stocks, up 0.44 per cent, and biotechs, up 0.5 per cent, were up for the sixth straight session.

Illumina surged 16 per cent to $163.64 after the diagnostics company gave a strong quarterly forecast and launched a new product.

Valeant rose 7.7 per cent following a deal to sell certain businesses and brands for about $2.12 billion, a move that it would help it lower its more than $30 billion debt.

– (Additional reporting: Reuters)