Markets ignore cut in ratings

EUROPEAN stock markets showed moderate gains yesterday, as investors seemed not to be put off by the weekend’s widespread eurozone downgrading actions of credit rating giant Standard & Poor’s.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index managed to climb by 0.8% to its highest level since early August, after initially seeing a 0.5% fall in earlier trading.

In Paris, the CAC-40 was up by just under 1%, despite France losing its triple-A credit rating, but helped by a lowering in the country’s borrowing costs and a successful bond auction.

Frankfurt’s DAX was up by 1.25% and the FTSE MIB in Italy was ahead by 1.4%.

In London, the FTSE 100 index was up by just under 0.4%; its main mover, however, being an 11-year low for Anglo-American cruise liner operator, Carnival, which said that its liner crash off the Italian coast last weekend could cost the company up to $95m.

Portugal and Spain were the main two western European states to see some form of decline in their benchmark exchanges yesterday.

In Dublin, the ISEQ crept upwards by 0.2%, helped by moderate gains for the likes of Smurfit Kappa Group, C&C, Datalex, Donegal Creameries, CRH and FBD.

The big two climbers, yesterday, were bakery group, Aryzta (which gained €1.18 to close at €35.88) and medical devices company, Icon (up by 93c).

There were also a few fallers, however, with CRH, Kerry Group, Kingspan, CPL Resources and DCC — which issued its second profit warning in as many months — topping that list.

Further afield, yesterday, Tokyo’s Nikkei closed down by 1.4%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong also suffered a 1% reversal.

The US markets were closed for a public holiday.