Aryzta’s shares hit highest level since January on Picard rumours

SHARES in speciality baker Aryzta rose as much as 6.8pc in Zurich trading, the most since February 14 and hitting their highest level since January 23.

The shares rose on the back of rumours that Aryzta is close to selling its 49pc stake in Picard, although chairman Gary McGann had said in March that Aryzta was aiming to monetise its stake in the French food company under the right conditions. An Aryzta spokesman declined to comment on the matter yesterday.

As European traders waited on the weekend’s French presidential election results, trading was up, with the Eurotop 100, FTSE 100 and the Iseq index of Irish shares all ending the week on an upward curve. The Iseq closed up 1.1pc at 7146.76.

Better than expected results from Willie Walsh’s IAG drove its shares nearly 5pc higher.

The Euro Stoxx 600 Index also advanced ahead of the French elections. US stocks pushed higher in afternoon trading yesterday, while the dollar and Treasuries fluctuated as investors assessed a robust jobs report and Federal Reserve comments for clues on the pace of rate hikes. Oil climbed above $46 a barrel. The S&P 500 Index headed for a third weekly advance as commodities producers rebounded with the price of crude and copper. The index remains mired in the tight range it’s held for the past seven sessions. The greenback slumped versus major peers, while 10-year Treasury yields held near 2.35pc.

“An increase for that June meeting is so locked in at this point, that it would have taken a major miss or blowout to move this market, and this was neither of those,” Matthew Peterson, chief wealth strategist at LPL Financial, said regarding the Federal Reserve. “The biggest thing is that even though the number of jobs created was better than expected, the Fed is going to be more focused on whether we can get rising wages.”