European stock markets closed mixed this evening, with pharmaceutical stocks weaker but financial shares stronger.
London's FTSE gained 0.1% to close at 5,607, with AstraZeneca down 1.4% to £29.53, but financial group Resolution up almost 5% to 72p. The Paris CAC fell 0.2% to 3,904, while in Frankfurt the Dax slipped marginally to 5,876.
In Dublin, the ISEQ ended five points (0.2%) lower at 3,016. Banks gave up some of last week's strong gains, with AIB losing just over 7% to €1.34 and Bank of Ireland falling 4.3% to €1.16. Aer Lingus lost one cent to 60 cent after announcing a delay in releasing its 2009 results, due tomorrow. Pharmaceutical group Merrion gained almost 2% to €3.95 after reporting a surge in revenues.
US stock markets hovered near unchanged levels following a strong rally on Friday sparked by better than expected US jobs figures. The Dow Jones was down 0.2% at 10,544, while the Nasdaq was up 0.1% to 2,329. Earlier, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.1%) to close at 10,586, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 1.9% to end at 21,197.
