Global markets had a volatile week as fears of a US recession following US jobs data for July and a surge in the yen after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates on July 31st caused investors to unwind yen carry trades.
Dublin
The Irish market ended the week in positive territory, gaining more than 1 per cent by the closing bell.
Banking stocks stayed in the green on Friday, with AIB adding 1.15 per cent and Bank of Ireland gaining 1 per cent. Permanent TSB was also higher, at €1.53, a 1 per cent gain.
Food stocks were more mixed. Kerry gained almost half a per cent over the session, ending the day at €86.05, but Glanbia was 0.6 per cent lower.
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Travel and leisure stocks also had a good day. Ryanair shares added 3.2 per cent to close at €15.06, while Dalata Hotel Group saw its stock gain 1.7 per cent to finish the week at €4.13. Ferry group Irish Continental was almost 3 per cent up over the session.
London
London’s main equity indexes logged declines for a second week on Friday, but ended higher for the day supported by healthy gains in home builder stocks, while positive US jobs data this week allayed fears of recession in the world’s largest economy.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.3 per cent on the day, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 0.6 per cent. However, both indexes ended down on the week, with midcaps down 1.5 per cent.
In London, home builders were among top gainers, rising 1.5 per cent, after Bellway joined rivals in offering an upbeat outlook of the sector following the Bank of England’s rate cut and the new labour government’s proposed planning reforms.
Among other movers, Hargreaves Lansdown gained 2.3 per cent after the investment platform agreed to a £5.44 billion (€6.35 billion) takeover by an international consortium.
Europe
The Stoxx 600 index managed to log a slight weekly advance, closing 0.6 per cent higher and briefly reclaiming the 500-point mark during the day.
The French CAC 40, Germany’s DAX, Spain’s IBEX 35, Italy’s FTSE MIB all gained between 0.1 per cent and 0.8 per cent.
Europe’s largest company by market value Nordisk jumped 6.3 per cent to log its second straight daily gain after Wednesday’s rout sparked by a disappointing profit outlook.
The real estate sector topped sectoral gainers, boosted by a 5.5 per cent gain in LEG Immobilien, one of Germany’s largest listed landlords, after it posted a smaller second-quarter loss.
Lotus Bakeries jumped about 7 per cent after the Belgian snack food company reported higher first-half revenue and earnings.
New York
Wall Street’s main indexes were set to clock weekly losses on Friday, capping off a tumultuous week where global markets were rattled by a sharp appreciation in the low-yielding yen and fears of a recession in the world’s biggest economy.
Megacap and growth stocks were mixed, with Alphabet down over 1 per cent and Amazon was up 0.6 per cent.
All major indexes were set for weekly losses, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq headed for a fourth straight week of fall.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34 per cent, in early trading to 39,313.21, the S&P 500 lost 0.12 per cent, to 5,313.04 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.1 per cent, to 16,644.89
Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were trading lower, with utilities and communication services leading the losses.
Paramount Global jumped 4.7 per cent as investors cheered strong growth at the media group’s streaming business.
Videogame publisher Take-Two Interactive Software climbed 2.6 per cent as it expects net bookings to grow in fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
– Additional reporting: Reuters
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