IRISH shares fell yesterday for their fifth day while the major European stocks rose, rebounding from four days of losses.

By the close in Dublin, the ISEQ Overall Index was down 0.34pc or 15.86 points to end the trading day at 4586.54.

The leaders on the Dublin market included packaging giant Smurfit Kappa, which rose 2.4pc to €16.61, while fruit company Fyffes was up 1.4pc to €1.07.

On the other side of the board, insulation group Kingspan fell 2.8pc to €12.02 and Kerry Group was down 1.3pc to €53.90.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.3pc at the close of trading, paring earlier gains of as much as 0.8pc.

The equity benchmark dropped 2.9pc last week as companies including ArcelorMittal and Holcim posted disappointing results.

National benchmark indexes advanced in nine of the 18 western-European markets. France’s CAC 40 added 0.4pc, Germany’s DAX rose 0.4pc, and the UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.1pc.
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“Earnings in Europe have been a mixed bag,” said Pierre Mouton of Notz, Stucki & Cie in Geneva.

“European markets are pretty cheap on average so buying a bit now can be a good investment if you look ahead three to six months.”

Credit Agricole gained 2.2pc after posting second-quarter operating profit of €628 million, exceeding the average analyst estimate of €617m.

France’s third-largest bank by market value said fully loaded common equity Tier 1 ratio, a key solvency measure under Basel III rules, rose to 9.9pc at the end of June from 9pc in the previous quarter. The lender also booked €708 million in costs related to its 14.6pc stake in bailed-out Portuguese lender Banco Espirito Santo.

Deutsche Post gained 2.2pc.

The pound rose for a second day against the euro as a report showed UK services output grew at a faster pace in July.
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