UK shares hit a record high on Wednesday amid what was seen as positive legislative developments for the construction sector there, while European shares were largely flat amid weak earnings.
Dublin
The Iseq All-Share index ended the session down 1.03 per cent to 13,074.51.
Gains from home builder Cairn Homes, up 2.69 per cent, and from insulation and building materials specialist Kingspan, up 1.66 per cent, were not enough to pull the index into the green.
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The largest component of the Iseq, Ryanair saw its share price tumble 3.32 per cent to €26.52, falling into the red for the year to date.
AIB shares fell 1.94 per cent. On Wednesday, the bank agreed a new pay deal with a workers union. Permanent TSB joined AIB in the red, falling 0.63 per cent – while Bank of Ireland bucked the sectoral trend to rise 0.21 per cent.
London
The UK’s FTSE 100 touched record highs on Wednesday as gains in home builders and energy shares offset a slump in wealth managers, which came under pressure from concerns about AI disrupting their business models.
The blue-chip index rose 1.1 per cent at a record close of 10,472.11 points.
The FTSE 350 Index of home builders rose 3.1 per cent after a report said the Labour Government was weighing plans for a new version of the Help to Buy scheme to support flagging demand for new homes.
Shares of Vistry Group, Bellway and Persimmon rose in the range of 4.2 per cent-5.4 per cent.
Energy stocks rose 3.6 per cent as oil climbed on supply worries tied to US–Iran tensions and signs of stronger demand from falling crude inventories. BP and Shell climbed 5.4 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively.
The FTSE 250 dipped 0.2 per cent, having touched a four-year peak on Tuesday, as sharp declines in British wealth managers weighed on the mid-cap index.
Shares of Aberdeen Group, Quilter, IG Group and AJ Bell fell in the range of 2.8 per cent to 7.9 per cent, tracking losses in their US peers after wealth management start-up Altruist introduced AI-enabled tax-planning features, fuelling fears over disruption to incumbents.
Europe
The Stoxx 600 Index was largely flat, up just 0.10 per cent, with technology stocks a major weight on the index.
France’s Dassault Systèmes disappointed investors, its shares fell by 20.81 per cent. The software maker saw fourth-quarter revenue rise just 1 per cent at constant currency to €1.68 billion, at the lower end of guidance. Dassault was among the stocks that took a hit last week as AI-disruption worries swept through global markets.
Smurfit Westrock gained 12.65 per cent after profits at the Irish-American packaging giant more than doubled to €587 million in 2025, the first full year for the group formed in July 2024 through the merger of Smurfit Kappa with US rival Westrock.
Heineken added 4.4 per cent after saying it would cut up to 6,000 jobs from its global workforce. Other major gainers were Tullow Oil, up 12.56 per cent, and mining company Antofagasta with a gain of 6.09 per cent
New York
A renewed sell-off in software stocks saw Wall Street indexes in the red during midafternoon trading. Investors, meanwhile, assessed stronger-than-expected employment data that lowered the bets on Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.
Software stocks tumbled again after rebounding in the previous few sessions from last week’s tech rout as AI-fuelled disruption remained a major concern, with markets quick to punish sectors perceived to be risky.
ServiceNow, Datadog, Salesforce and Intuit were all in the red, with the sectoral index in decline.
Brokerage firms that slid on Tuesday after start-up Altruist announced AI-enabled tax-planning features extended declines. Charles Schwab, LPL Financial and Ameriprise Financial were facing moderate single-digit losses.
Generac was atop the S&P 500 following its fourth-quarter results. Earnings season continued to hold investor attention, with Robinhood shares feeling the brunt of a focus on its missed Q4 expectations. – Additional reporting, Reuters, PA.
