European stock markets closed narrowly mixed this evening, consolidating sharp gains made the previous day on the back of strong corporate results led by the banks and better than expected US data.
London's FTSE edged a point lower to close at 5,396 and the Paris CAC dipped four points (0.1%) to 3,748. But Frankfurt's DAX index managed to gain 16 points (0.25%) to close at 6,308.
After gaining 1.6% yesterday, Dublin's ISEQ index closed a single point lower at 2,962 this evening. Ahead of its half yearly results tomorrow, shares in AIB were up 1.5% to 98 cent, while Irish Life and Permanent added 3.1% to end at €1.83. Shares in CRH were down 1.3% to €16.30, while Kingspan gained 1.5% to finish the day at €5.60.
US stock markets continued to see falls this evening, paring back yesterday's solid gains as data showed a slight dip in US consumer spending. The Dow Jones was down 26 points (0.25%) to stand at 10,748 while the Nasdaq slipped 10 points (0.4%) to trade at 2,286.
Earlier in Asian trade Tokyo's Nikkei index added 1.3% to 9,694, with investors taking their cue from last night rally on Wall Street. The Hang Seng ended up 0.2% at 21,458 in Hong Kong.
