European stock markets recorded healthy gains this evening, on the last trading day of a holiday-shortened week.
In London, the FTSE rose 1.2% to close at 5,745, led by mining stocks as commodity prices rose. In Paris, the CAC jumped 1.5% to finish at 4,034, while in Frankfurt the DAX added 1.3% to 6,236.
In Dublin, shares in Ryanair jumped almost 8% to €3.97 after lifting its profit outlook for the year to the end of March, while Aer Lingus also gained 5.5% to 77 cent. Banks were little changed but building materials group CRH gained 2.3% to €18.91. Overall, the ISEQ climbed 67 points (2.1%) to 3,245.
Strong manufacturing figures and a decline in US jobless claims sent Wall Street stocks higher. The Dow Jones rose 0.7% to 10,932 while the Nasdaq gained 0.5% to 2,409. Earlier, the Nikkei index in Tokyo closed 154 points (1.4%) higher to close at 11,244 after a Bank of Japan survey indicated a steady improvement of business confidence. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 298 points (1.4%) to 21,537.
