Shares rise globally on optimism over return to work

European shares rose for a fourth straight session on Thursday, as optimism over businesses returning to work and stimulus for the battered euro-zone economy outweighed rising US-China tensions.

UK shares ended higher on Thursday, helped by drugmakers AstraZeneca and GSK as markets looked for more progress in the development of a Covid-19 vaccine, while optimism over the reopening of the economy persisted.

US stocks rose to a 12-week high as data showed the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic was less severe than anticipated.

Dublin

The Iseq rose 0.5 per cent as trading slowed heading towards the bank holiday weekend. Its progress was held back by the poor performance of the two pillar banks, however, which suffered on the back of dire economic warnings from the ESRI. Bank of Ireland was down 5 per cent to €1.70 per share. AIB fell back by almost 7.3 per cent to €1.05.

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Aryzta, the Swiss-Irish baked goods group, clawed back some of its earlier losses after the interventions of activist shareholders. It closed ahead by 4.7 per cent at 50.7 cents per share.

Kerry Group fared well, up 2.3 per cent to €109.40, on hopes that the US economy may weather the coronavirus storm better than feared. Paper and packaging giant Smurfit Kappa, however, dropped 2 per cent to €29.42.

London

The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose another 1.2 per cent after ending Wednesday at an 11-week high, with AstraZeneca the biggest boost. The group, which is developing a leading coronavirus vaccine with Oxford University, said it may have to consider introducing vaccine trial participants to the virus.

GSK provided the second-biggest fillip to the index as it laid out plans to produce a billion doses of vaccine efficacy boosters for Covid-19 shots next year. While markets are looking forward to the ending of virus-driven lockdowns, a vaccine would cement a return to economic normalcy by negating the need for social distancing.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 closed 1.1 per cent higher, gaining for the ninth session in a row as British employers turned slightly less pessimistic about hiring. Cinema operator Cineworld was among the best performers on the mid-cap index as it planned to reopen all its cinemas in July.

Europe

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 1.6 per cent to hit an 11-week high, with healthcare stocks rebounding from losses earlier this week.

The Stoxx 600 has risen more than 32 per cent from its March lows as investors hope for a gradual recovery with policymakers injecting trillions of dollars into the global economy and drugmakers racing to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.

Italian luxury group Salvatore Ferragamo surged 16 per cent after it called back its former chief executive officer to help weather the Covid-19 storm.

Scandinavian airline SAS slumped 11.2 per cent after revealing it was in talks with shareholders to raise funds as the collapse in travel demand hurt its quarterly results.

New York

Boeing climbed 3.3 per cent, the most among the 30 blue-chip Dow components, as the aircraft manufacturer said it had resumed production of its 737 Max passenger jet at its Washington plant, although at a "low rate".

Healthcare and technology sectors rose 2 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, topping the major S&P sectors trading higher.

Memory chipmaker Micron Technology dropped 3 per cent, despite raising its revenue forecast for the third quarter. Twitter fell 2.2 per cent and Facebook slipped 0.4 per cent ahead of an expected order from US present Donald Trump that would review a law that has long protected the companies from being responsible for the material posted by their users.

The S&P 500 has soared about 38 per cent from its low hit in March as a restart in business activity after weeks of shutdown and massive amounts of stimulus measures to support the economy drove hopes of a recovery. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg/Reuters