Global shares slipped on Thursday and were on track to snap a six-session streak of gains, weighed down by a sharp drop for Microsoft after its quarterly results, while oil prices jumped on US-Iran tensions.
Dublin
Euronext Dublin finished the day down 0.3 per cent as a number of its heavier hitters sank into the red.
Ryanair gave up 0.2 per cent as its strong run since reporting quarterly results on Monday came to a halt. The airline had predicted a big increase in passenger numbers, as well as full year profit between €2.13 billion and €2.23 billion before any exceptional charges.
It was a bad day for the financial names as AIB and Bank of Ireland fell 0.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively. PTSB, the smallest of the banks, was down 0.65 per cent at close of business.
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There was better news for some of the food names as Kerry Group climbed 1.3 per cent, while Glanbia soared 2.25 per cent.
Cavan-based insulation specialist Kingspan, which is one of the biggest companies on the index, shed 1.5 per cent. Housebuilders Cairn Homes and Glenveagh Properties also suffered, giving up 0.7 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.
London
Stock prices in London closed mostly higher as investors digested the US Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to stand put on interest rates.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.2 per cent. The FTSE 250 ended down 0.5 per cent, and the AIM all-share closed down 0.9 per cent.
On AIM, Ashtead Technology was down 0.4 per cent. The company, which provides subsea technology solutions to the global offshore energy sector, had earlier been in the red following US peer United Rentals’ full-year results.
Investment company 3i Group surged 8.8 per cent to lead the gainers on the FTSE 100 after it delivered a strong third-quarter update. That made the investment banks and brokerages index among the session’s top performers, rising 3 per cent.
Banking shares rebounded from Wednesday’s losses, and were up 0.5 per cent. Lloyds Banking Group rose 0.1 per cent after the bank reported a better-than-expected 12 per cent rise in annual profit.
Europe
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.17 per cent as gains in mining and energy stocks helped offset a drop in technology names.
Elsewhere, the Cac 40 in Paris closed up 0.1 per cent, while the Dax 40 in Frankfurt ended down 2.1 per cent.
Euro zone bond yields edged lower in afternoon trading as concerns persisted over the strength of the euro and whether it might prompt the European Central Bank to ease monetary policy sooner than many currently expect.
Germany’s 10-year yield was last down 2.5 basis points on the day at 2.824 per cent. Shorter-dated euro zone yields fell for a fourth straight day, leaving the German two-year at its lowest level in a week.
New York
Wall Street’s main indexes slid to over one-week lows as another wave of hefty artificial intelligence-related spending announcements by mega-cap tech companies rattled investors.
Microsoft slumped 12.2 per cent after the software giant’s cloud revenue failed to impress and stoked fears the hefty outlays behind its OpenAI alliance were not translating into monetisation fast enough.
Tesla also reversed course, down 2.3 per cent, after the electric-vehicle maker outlined plans to more than double capital expenditures to a record level.
Salesforce was down 7.2 per cent, while Adobe lost 3.9 per cent and cloud security firm Datadog fell 8.3 per cent.
Defence contractor Lockheed Martin rose 5 per cent after forecasting 2026 earnings above Wall Street expectations.
Southwest Airlines’ shares advanced 12.9 per cent after the airline forecast a stronger-than-expected annual profit. Bellwether IBM jumped 6 per cent after beating estimates in its fourth-quarter earnings. (Additional reporting: Agencies)
