US stock markets edged higher today as online broker ETrade announced it had won a $2.5 billion injection from one of America's biggest hedge funds, Citadel, while European stock markets were also higher. The Dow Jones was up 22 points at 13,312 while the Nasdaq gained three to 2,665.
In Dublin, the ISEQ finished 46 points higher at 6,959, with building stocks strong. CRH jumped 71 cent to €25.07 and Grafton added 29 to €6.20. But drinks group C&C tumbled 24 cent to €3.71.
In London, the FTSE gained 43 points to 6,349, with Barclays down 2.5% at 532p and BA losing 2% to 337p. But Alliance & Leicester jumped almost 8% to 704p after a trading update reassured investors on its funding. Paris was up 0.7% and Frankfurt added 0.5%.
Earlier in Asia, Japanese stocks powered up more than 2%, with the Nikkei average hitting a two-week closing high on a softer yen and a Wall Street rally. The Nikkei gained 2.4% to 15,514.
