Shares slide on interest rate hike fears

European stocks slid on Thursday as investors braced themselves for further US interest rate hikes following indications from central bankers that inflation must be curbed further.

Dublin

Most of the Irish market’s leading stocks lost ground on what dealers said was a quiet day. Insulation and building materials specialist Kingspan shed 3.42 per cent to €72.76 ahead of publishing first-half results on Friday.

Shares in Irish Ferries operator Irish Continental Group sank 1.61 per cent to €4.575. The shipping company had a sharper fall earlier this week but subsequently bounced back.

Ryanair dipped 0.85 per cent to €15.74. Most European airlines were down about 2 per cent on the day, dealers noted, adding that the Irish giant “slightly outperformed” its industry.

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AIB was down 1.16 per cent at €4.25 while peer Bank of Ireland retreated 2.25 per cent to €9.388.

Building materials group CRH fell 1.5 per cent to close at €52.38.

Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment slipped 1.5 per cent to 158.10. Rivals in London were also down on Thursday.

London

BAE Systems’ shares slid as shareholders were not impressed by the defence group’s £4.4 billion deal to buy Ball Aerospace, a company that supplies parts to the James Webb telescope and US fighter jets. Shares were down 4.7 per cent at 955.8 pence sterling.

Aer Lingus own International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) shed almost 2 per cent to close at 162.25p on a slow day for airlines. Wizz Air dropped 2 per cent to 2,187p while EasyJet was 2.2 per cent off at 431.7p.

Bingo and casino firm Rank Group dipped in value after it took a £119 million hit in impairment charges because many of its venues had not performed as well as hoped. Shares declined by 1.5 per cent to 88p.

Elsewhere in the gambling sector, Ladbrokes owner Entain slid by 5 per cent to 1,174p after US casino giant MGM, which has been regularly touted as a potential suitor for Entain, said it was using subsidiary Leo Vegas’s tech to launch betting app BetMGM in the UK.

Europe

The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.7 per cent by 3:08pm Irish time, declining for a third session. Industrial goods and services stocks led the retreat, while the basic resources and energy sectors were the biggest gainers.

Adyen slumped 39 per cent to €898.40 in Amsterdam, the most on record after, reporting first-half earnings that missed estimates as increased competition in North America hit revenues.

Swiss plumbing and bathroom fittings maker Geberit fell 5.6 per cent to 441.50 francs after reporting second-quarter results that analysts said represented a “sizeable” miss.

US

Wall Street’s main indexes fell in choppy trading on Thursday as losses in healthcare stocks eclipsed gains in Cisco, while upbeat economic data kept alive fears of interest rates remaining higher for longer.

Weighing heavily on the S&P 500, CVS Health tumbled 9.8 per cent on news that Blue Shield of California plans to cut its reliance on the company as its pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) and work with others including Amazon.com.

Shares of major health insurers UnitedHealth and Cigna, which also have PBM units, fell 1.3 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively, dragging the broader S&P 500 healthcare index down 0.3 per cent.