European stock markets closed higher this evening in the first trading session after the Easter weekend. Most banking shares were boosted by better than expected first quarter results reported late last night by US bank Goldman Sachs.
In London, the FTSE closed up just five points at 3,999, with Lloyds and Barclays both gaining more than 10% to 88p and 195.5p respectively. Mining stocks were also strong. In Paris, the CAC gained 0.9% to 3,000, while in Frankfurt the DAX rose 1.5% to 4,557.
Dublin's ISEQ closed up 41 points (1.7%) at 2,414. Banks were mixed, with Irish Life & Permanent jumping 23 cent (12%) to €2.15 but AIB losing seven cent (6%) to €1.05. DCC gained 73 cent to €12.75, while Aryzta added €1.55 to €22.10.
On Wall Street, however, the Goldman Sachs figures were overshadowed by a surprise drop in retail sales in March, a setback after some recent data had provided a glimmer of hope for the US economy. The Dow Jones was down 69 points at 7,988 while the Nasdaq was 16 points lower at 1,638. This morning, Tokyo's Nikkei ended down 82 points (0.9%) at 8,843., while the Hang Seng climbed 679 points to 15,580.
