Most European stock markets closed lower this evening, led by bank shares, though a rise in BP shares helped the London market to end higher.
In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.8% to 5,593, with BP gaining 3% to 440.5p after it named the Gulf of Mexico assets it will use to help finance the $20 billion fund for victims of its oil spill. In Paris the CAC fell 0.6% to 3,692 while the Frankfurt DAX dropped 0.3% to end the week at 6,211.
In Dublin, the ISEQ closed down 14 points (0.5%) at 2,662. The two main banks were again mixed after yesterday's announcements, with AIB losing another 6.5% to 47 cent and Bank of Ireland up another 2.7% to 64 cent. Building materials group Kingspan gained 3.4% to €5.76.
On Wall Street, markets gave up earlier gains after figures showing that US manufacturing growth slowed in September. The Dow Jones was 0.3% higher at 10,817, while the Nasdaq was flat at 2,368.
Earlier, Tokyo's Nikkei closed 0.4% higher at 9,404 on hopes that the Bank of Japan will announce further policy measures to support the economy next week. Markets in Hong Kong were closed for a national holiday.
