Shares drop amid Bank of Ireland plunge

Europe’s shares dropped on Monday, led by miners, with investors bracing for crucial inflation reports throughout the week for further clues on the timing of interest rate cuts by major central banks, including the European Central Bank.

Dublin

The Irish index of shares fell 2.1 per cent on Monday, dragged lower by a slump in banking shares. Bank of Ireland slumped 10.6 per cent, with a weaker-than-expected outlook from the lender eclipsing a tripling of shareholder returns on the back of surging full-year profits. AIB also shed value, declining 4.2 per cent, while Permanent TSB was down 2.5 per cent.

Among the most active stocks at the start of the week insulation specialist Kingspan was down more than 1 per cent, while Kerry Group also fell by more than 1 per cent.

On the more positive end of the market Datalex saw its shares gain 5.5 per cent over the course of the day. The software company has had some good news lately, with two of its big shareholders, including former Glen Dimplex chief executive Sean O’Driscoll, boosting their stakes in the company.

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London

Britain’s stock indexes edged lower as miners lost ground due to weaker copper and iron ore prices, while declines in home builders followed the UK antitrust watchdog’s launch of an investigation into the sector. The resource-heavy FTSE 100 index and the mid-cap FTSE 250 closed the session about 0.3 per cent lower.

Home builders lost 1.5 per cent after the Competition and Markets Authority said Britain’s house building market has fundamental problems that are preventing more homes from being built as it launched an investigation to see if commercially-sensitive information was being shared.

Shares in online supermarket Ocado slid 7 per cent, the biggest faller among FTSE 100 components, following a report that said Marks & Spencer is putting a multimillion payment to Ocado on hold over poor performance.

Among other stocks Wincanton jumped 12.2 per cent to notch an all-time high after CEVA Logistics, a unit of French shipping firm CMA CGM, raised its offer to buy the firm for about £604.7 million.

Europe

The pan-European STOXX 600 closed 0.4 per cent lower. The continent’s top economy Germany’s benchmark DAX hit a fresh record intraday and closing high, boosted by a 2.8 per cent rise in defence firm Rheinmetall.

Basic Resources dropped 2.1 per cent to a four-month low, spearheading sectoral declines, while technology rose 0.4 per cent, led by a 6.5 per cent jump in chipmaking parts supplier BE Semiconductor Industries.

Sweden’s Kinnevik gained 5.4 per cent on plans to sell its entire stake in Tele2 to French investor Xavier Niel and his Iliad telecoms business. Tele2 shares were up 5.3 per cent.

HelloFresh lost 11.8 per cent, with UBS flagging risks for the German meal-kit delivery firm’s 2024 guidance ahead of earnings in March.

New York

Wall Street’s main indexes were mixed in choppy trade on Monday after a scorching AI-led rally as investors braced for key inflation data this week which could impact the Federal Reserve’s rate cut path.

At 11.26am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 5.11 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 39,136.64, the S&P 500 was down 6.4 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 5,082.40, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 5.21 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 16,002.03.

Nvidia rose 1.2 per cent after hitting $2 trillion in market value for the first time on Friday. Tesla outperformed peers, rising 4.0 per cent.

Also propping up the Nasdaq was a 5.8 per cent gain in Micron Technology as it started mass production of its high-bandwidth memory semiconductors for use in Nvidia’s latest AI chip.

Google-parent Alphabet dropped 3.7 per cent after announcing plans to relaunch its AI tool in the next few weeks. It was paused last week after inaccuracies in some historical depictions.

Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway shed 1.2 per cent, erasing early gains on investor worries after the US government warned of a lawsuit against its power company PacifiCorp.

Intuitive Machines slumped 32 per cent after the company said its spacecraft had tipped over shortly after touching down on the lunar surface. – Additional reporting: Reuters

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