ISEQ reports annual gain of 28pc after 2008 slump
Index likely to jump above key 3000 mark as global revival picks up speed
A couple checking prices yesterday at an electronic stock board outside a securities firm in Tokyo
Tuesday December 29 2009
THE Dublin market will open today for the final week of trading in 2009 showing a gain of almost 28pc for the year, but well shy of the value at the market's peak in 2007.
Share prices slumped by a dramatic 66pc in the final months of 2008, leaving the ISEQ Index pegged at just 2343 at the start of 2009. The index opens this morning at 2989 but with gains in the banks and other leading shares traded on New York ADR market during the holiday period, it is likely to jump above the key 3000 mark at some stage today.
The gains on Dublin's ISEQ mirror those on the major European benchmark, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600, which added 0.4pc to 252.88, its highest since October 2008.
Increase
The index is now set for its biggest annual increase in a decade, having risen 28pc this year, on mounting evidence that the global economy is recovering from its worst recession since World War II.
China raised its 2008 growth estimate to 9.6pc from 9pc and said this year's quarterly figures will increase, narrowing the gap with Japan, the world's second-biggest economy.
The emerging markets' economies "will support global growth," said Arnaud Scarpaci, a fund manager at Agilis Gestion in Paris, which oversees about $150m (€104m). "That's good for stocks. We expect another year of gains in 2010."
Japan's Cabinet Office said on December 25 the economy would expand for the first time in three years and that industrial production improved for a ninth month in November.
The US economy next year will turn in its best performance since 2004 as spending perks up and companies increase investment and hiring, according to Dean Maki, the most accurate forecaster in a Bloomberg News survey.
The world's largest economy will expand 3.5pc in 2010, according to Mr Maki, the chief US economist at Barclays Capital in New York. The rebound in stocks and rising incomes will prompt Americans to do what they do best -- consume, said Mr Maki, a former economist at the Federal Reserve.
A 60pc rally in the Stoxx 600 since March has been spurred by record-low interest rates in the US and Europe as governments committed about $12 trillion worldwide to revive credit markets and stimulate economic growth.
National benchmark indexes rose in 14 of the 16 western European markets that were open yesterday. Ireland and Britain were closed for holidays. France's CAC 40 climbed 0.8pc, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.5pc.
ArcelorMittal rallied 2.3pc to €32.01. Norsk Hydro, Europe's third-largest aluminum producer, increased 2pc to 48.66 kroner. Boliden AB, the region's second-biggest zinc producer, gained 1pc to 90.70 kronor.
Basic-resources shares were the best performers among 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600. Copper rose to its highest level in more than 15 months in New York on speculation that demand will strengthen and drain stockpiles. Crude oil climbed for a fourth day as forecasts of unusually cold weather in the US increased demand for heating fuels.
- Pat Boyle
Irish Independent
