Global shares edged higher on Wednesday after softer-than-expected US inflation data boosted the outlook for Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Dublin
Euronext Dublin slightly outperformed a number of international peers as it finished up 24 basis points.
The financial names continued to rally as AIB climbed 2 per cent to bring it up more than 5 per cent in the week. Bank of Ireland finished up 3 per cent.
Cavan-based insulation specialist Kingspan, which is one of the biggest companies on the index, was unchanged as it held onto recent gains.
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Food giant Kerry Group, which is another big hitter, was up 70 basis points at close of business.
The standout under-performer on the day was Ryanair, which sank 2 per cent. Airline investors were unsettled by events in the Middle East following Israel’s missile strike on Qatar, while Nato fighter jets shot down Russian drones over Polish airspace for the first time.
Irish conglomerate DCC finished the day up 90 basis points after surrendering early gains that saw it climb more than 4 per cent at one stage.
The group earlier said it is seeking to narrow its focus to energy, and told investors it will start a £600 million (€694 million) share buyback in November.
London
The FTSE 100 gave back early gains to close 0.2 per cent lower as weak retailers and increased geopolitical concerns limited progress.
The FTSE 250 ended down 0.3 per cent, while the Aim All-Share finished down 0.8 per cent.
Aer Lingus and British Airways owner International Airlines Group fell 4.1 per cent while low-cost airlines EasyJet and Wizz Air dropped 2.2 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively.
Retailers were also a weak feature, not helped by softer-than-hoped-for sales at fast fashion business Primark, owned by Associated British Foods.
Shares in AB Foods tumbled 13 per cent as analysts bemoaned “vague” guidance, soft sales at Primark and a less-than-sweet performance at its Sugar business.
Marks & Spencer fell 3 per cent, and Next eased 1.8 per cent. Kingfisher dropped 1.7 per cent, as did JD Sports Fashion.
Anglo American gained a further 1.7 per cent as its tie-up with Teck Resources continued to be well received while Haleon, up 1.1 per cent, benefited from an upgrade by Goldman Sachs to ‘buy’.
Europe
European shares were mixed as a boost from Spanish fast-fashion giant Inditex was offset by a pullback in technology stocks.
Inditex climbed 6.4 per cent after the company said sales had picked up after months of poor demand. The gains helped lift Spain’s benchmark index by 1.25 per cent to a two-week high.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.01 per cent, supported by the European aerospace and defence index, which rose 1.44 per cent to a record high after Poland shot down Russia’s drones.
France’s Cac 40 rose 0.15 per cent after president Emmanuel Macron appointed loyalist and former defence minister Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister on Tuesday, the fifth one in less than two years. Elsewhere, the Dax 40 in Frankfurt closed 0.4 per cent lower.
New York
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq scaled fresh intraday record highs driven by a surge in cloud computing firm Oracle, while cooler-than-expected inflation data kept the US Federal Reserve on track to cut borrowing costs this year.
Oracle soared 41 per cent to an all-time high and was set for its biggest one-day percentage gain since 1992 after the tech company pointed to a demand surge from AI firms for its cloud services.
Its stock market value reached $969 billion (€828 billion) – leapfrogging those of Eli Lilly JPMorgan Chase and Walmart – and is approaching Tesla’s $1.14-trillion market value.
Chip stocks gained, with Nvidia rising 4.3 per cent, Advanced Micro Devices up 3.8 per cent and Broadcom adding 9.6 per cent. – Additional reporting: Agencies
