Monday 27th July

European shares finished at their highest in more than eight months as strong US homes sales data increased optimism about the economy.

Analyst said that better than expected company results so far for the second quarter have also revived hopes that the market has already seen its worst phase and shares might be on a recovery path. The region’s banks and energy producers were strong performers. On the negative side Irish budget airline Ryanair lost 9.4 percent after cutting full year profit forecasts due to falling yields. Volkswagen fell two percent on a report it is considering selling four billion euros worth of new shares to offset the credit rating impact of its merger with Porsche. Porsche fell 11.4 percent. Oil was up for a third session – at its highest level in more than three weeks while the euro hit a seven-week high versus the dollar.More about: Markets

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