Stocks lose drive as European carmakers slip

Highs earlier in the week wound back on disappointing US earnings and motor rout

Stocks slipped amid disappointing earnings in the US and a rout in European car makers, as investors wound back enthusiasm that had sent equity gauges to this year’s highs earlier in the week. The yen dropped on the prospect of fresh stimulus.

DUBLIN

Most major stocks from CRH to Paddy Power and Glanbia to Kingspan fell on the Dublin market on Friday. Kingspan was down 2.6 per cent at €21.70, while Paddy Power Betfair declined 3.05 per cent to €107.80.

CRH fell 0.9 per cent to €25.28 and Glanbia closed down 1.3 per cent at €17.33

IFG Group and First Derivatives were among the star performers, both climbing. First Derivatives rose 2.4 per cent to finish the day on €21.10, while IFG was up 3.8 per cent at €2.18.

READ MORE

Bank of Ireland meanwhile rose 1.1 per cent to 25 cent.

In line with its European peers the ISEQ finished the day down 0.44 per cent or 27.11 points at 6,123.

LONDON

Britain’s benchmark shares index fell as a drop in mining stocks and luxury goods group Burberry weighed on the market, which recorded its first weekly loss in a month.

Burberry fell by 1.3 per cent after French peer Kering reported a slowdown in growth at its premium Gucci brand.

Sainsbury, however, rose 1.3 per cent after Deutsche Bank raised its rating on the company to “buy” from “hold”.

Mining stocks such as Anglo American and Rio Tinto were the worst performers, hit by a drop in copper prices.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended down 1.1 per cent at 6,310.44 points, ending a three-week stretch of gains and slipping from a four-month high reached earlier in the week. Sterling was up 0.9 per cent against the euro at 1.28.

EUROPE

European stocks slid further from a three-month high, trimming a second weekly advance, as carmakers led declines.

Daimler tumbled 5.1 per cent after its quarterly operating profit fell. Volkswagen lost 1.3 per cent, paring a drop of as much as 6.1 per cent, after more than doubling the provisions toward payments in its cheating scandal.

PSA Peugeot Citroën fell 1.7 per cent after government fraud investigators searched the group’s premises in France as part of a probe into vehicle emissions.

Among shares moving on financial results, Kering slid 5.4per cent after the Gucci owner reported first-quarter revenue that trailed analysts’ estimates. Volvo rose 4.9 per cent on better-than-estimated earnings.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.3 per cent at the close of trading, paring an earlier drop of as much as 0.8 per cent. Germany’s Dax fell 0.6 per cent and the Cac 40 in France was down 0.3 per cent.

NEW YORK

Disappointing earnings reports from Microsoft and other major companies pushed Wall Street lower on Friday, overshadowing a surge in oil prices which lifted energy shares.

Microsoft was the biggest drag on all three major indexes.

Alphabet and Microsoft were down 6 and 7 per cent, respectively, after both missed profit and revenue estimates.

General Electric was off 1.8 per cent after it reported lower organic revenue. Starbucks slipped 5.7 per cent after missing sales expectations, while Visa was down 3.2 per cent after it cut full-year revenue forecast.

At 12.49pm ET (16.49 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average was down 48.9 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 17,933.62; the S&P 500 was down 9.09 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 2,082.39; and the Nasdaq Composite was down 68.94 points, or 1.39 percent, at 4,876.95.

– Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters