Most European stock markets ended marginally higher this evening after the previous session's jump, helped by another batch of positive US data.
London's FTSE added a marginal 0.1% to close at 5,371, with telecoms firm Cable & Wireless dropping back 3% to just under 70p. In Paris, the CAC rose 0.2% to 3,631, while in Frankfurt the DAX was flat at 6,084.
In Dublin, however, the ISEQ index dropped 16 points (0.6%) to 2,745. Smurfit Kappa added 2.7% to €7.40 but banks were weaker. AIB fell 2.6% to 76 cent and Bank of Ireland lost 3.2% to 74 cent. Total Produce shares dipped marginally to 34 cent after results this morning, while Fyffes dropped almost 3% to 33 cent ahead of tis figures tomorrow.
On Wall Street, better than expected figures on unemployment benefits and home sales helped sentiment. The Dow Jones was 0.1% higher at 10,275, while the Nasdaq gained 0.6% to 2,191.
Earlier in Asian trade, Tokyo's Nikkei closed 1.5% higher at 9,063 after positive US economic data cheered Wall Street overnight. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 1.2% to finish at 20,869.
