Global stocks slide as second-quarter rally hits headwinds

In Dublin Kingspan fell 2.7%, while Woodies DIY parent Grafton Group finished the day down 2.2%

Global stocks slid on Tuesday as the second-quarter rally met resistance from economic headwinds.

Dublin

Euronext Dublin finished the day down 35 basis points, largely in line with international peers. A number of the merchant companies endured a bad day with insulation specialist Kingspan down 2.7 per cent while Woodies DIY parent Grafton Group finished the day down 2.2 per cent.

Among the construction names Cairn Homes and Glenveagh Properties fared better as they climbed 70 basis points and 1 per cent respectively.

“Volumes were reasonable,” a trader said. “Some decent retail buying in there, and the fundamentals seem to be strong underpinned by demand.”

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CRH, one of the index’s biggest hitters, was up marginally at close of business. “There has been a lot of activity in CRH in the past week or two ahead of its primary listing switch to the US, but it bucked the trend today,” a trader said.

Elsewhere, Paddy Power Betfair-parent Flutter Entertainment was up 80 basis points.

London

The FTSE 100 slipped into the red and the pound lost ground as concerns over the UK’s mortgage market mounted. The blue-chip index was pulled down 0.25 per cent, with banks and mining stocks among the biggest fallers.

In company news shares in Lookers soared by 35 per cent after the car dealership group agreed to a takeover worth £465 million (€543m) by a Canadian firm.

Saga saw its share price move higher after announcing its cruise ship business was in high demand and it is expecting a hike in profits this year. It said it had managed to fill most of its spots for this season and was already beginning to fill up bookings for the 2024-2025 season. Shares in Saga increased by 4.1 per cent.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Beazley, up 15.5p to 590.5p, Rolls-Royce Holdings, up 3.2p to 157p, B & European Value Retail, up 9.8p to 566.4p, Flutter Entertainment, up 215p to 16,165p, and IMI, up 20p to 1,636p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Anglo American, down 99.5p to 2,384.5p, NatWest Group, down 7.4p to 245.3p, Prudential, down 28.5p to 1,100.5p, Ocado Group, down 10.9p to 424p, and Antofagasta, down 34p to 1,482.5p.

Europe

Other major European stock markets also felt the weaker mood. Germany’s Dax index fell by 0.55 per cent and France’s Cac 40 slipped by 0.27 per cent. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index lost 0.51 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.75 per cent.

New York

Wall Street’s main indexes fell as better-than-expected housing data fuelled worries of more interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, while Tesla climbed after Rivian agreed to adopt its charging standard.

Tesla added 2 per cent after Reuters reported that Rivian Automotive has agreed to adopt its charging standard, adding momentum to the EV giant’s bid to set the industry standard.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sub-sectors were in the red, with the energy index leading declines. The rate-sensitive real estate sector fell 1.4 per cent.

PayPal Holdings rose 1.7 per cent after KKR & Co agreed to purchase up to €40 billion worth of the payments firm’s “buy now, pay later” loans in Europe.

Nike slipped 3 per cent after Morgan Stanley flagged a risk of margin pressure from inventory glut.

US-listed shares of Chinese companies including Alibaba Group, JD.com and PDD Holdings fell between 3 per cent and 7 per cent as China made a smaller-than-expected cut to its benchmark lending rates.

Adobe fell 1.8 per cent following a report that European antitrust regulators were preparing to investigate the firm’s deal to buy cloud-based designer platform Figma.

Dice Therapeutics jumped 37.6 per cent after Eli Lilly and Co said it would buy the drugmaker in an all-cash deal.

At 10.07am eastern time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.66 per cent; the S&P 500 was down 0.51 per cent; and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.3 per cent.

– (Additional reporting: Agencies)

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter