Global markets were mostly muted on Tuesday as investors digested a slew of corporate earnings and watched political turmoil in the UK.
Dublin
Euronext Dublin underperformed international peers as it sank 1.7 per cent to 13,210.31, dragged down by the banks and Ryanair.
AIB and Bank of Ireland were both weak, down 2.9 per cent and 2 per cent respectively. It was the bad day for the airline sector generally, and Ryanair, Europe’s biggest airline, finished down 2.7 per cent.
Cavan-based insulation specialist Kingspan, which is one of the biggest companies in the index, was down 70 basis points at close of business.
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Builders Cairn Homes and Glenveagh Properties were the stand out performers as they climbed 2.4 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively.
“The UK housebuilder sector was strong, and often when that happens, there is a correlation with the Irish housebuilders, even though there shouldn’t be,” a trader noted.
London
Stock prices in London closed mixed as UK prime minister Keir Starmer sought to move on from speculation about his future after fending off serious calls to step down.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.3 per cent; the FTSE 250 ended up 0.6 per cent; and the Aim all-share closed down 0.2 per cent.
BP sank 6.1 per cent after it suspended its share buyback programme and took about $4 billion of charges in its renewables and biogas assets as the oil major reported quarterly profit that met expectations.
Standard Chartered dropped 5.7 per cent, also among the top decliners in the blue-chip index, after the Asia-focused lender said Chief Financial Officer Diego De Giorgi had left the bank following a two-year stint.
Among other movers, AstraZeneca rose 2 per cent after the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker forecast steady growth in 2026 on strong cancer drug demand.
Barclays increased its profit by 12 per cent in 2025 and raised its performance targets, although the British bank’s shares fell 2.5 per cent as banks overall came under pressure.
Europe
On the Continent, the Cac 40 in Paris closed up 0.1 per cent, while the Dax 40 in Frankfurt ended down 0.1 per cent. The Euro Stoxx 600 was flat.
Germany’s benchmark bond yield dipped to more than a three-week low after data showed US retail sales unexpectedly flatlined in December.
The German 10-year yield – traditionally the benchmark for the euro zone – fell to 2.8 per cent, the lowest level since mid-January, and was last down 3 basis points.
Italy’s 10-year bond yield was last down 4 basis points at 3.42 per cent, around a three-week low.
Euro zone bond traders also have been keeping an eye on political developments in Britain.
New York
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were muted while the Dow notched a fresh record high as investors digested corporate earnings and retail sales figures that kicked off a slew of economic data sets due to be released through the week.
The S&P 500 communication services sector fell, dragged by a 1.8 per cent decline in Google parent Alphabet’s shares.
A rotation out of pricey tech stocks and into other areas of the market has helped the Dow – on Friday, it breached the 50,000-level for the first time – along with small- and mid-cap companies.
Software shares continued to gain following last week’s rout, with the S&P 500 software index up 1.3 per cent. Datadog shares jumped almost 16 per cent after the cloud-based monitoring and analytics platform beat quarterly estimates.
Consumer discretionary stocks on the benchmark index gained 1.2 per cent, buoyed by Tesla and Marriott. The latter jumped 9 per cent after declaring fourth-quarter results.
Shares of S&P Global dipped 6.3 per cent after forecasting 2026 profit below analysts’ estimates. Peers Moody’s, FactSet and MSCI also fell.
Spotify’s shares soared 15 per cent after the audiostreaming platform forecast first-quarter earnings above expectations, benefiting from strong user growth and price hikes. (Additional reporting: Agencies)
