Global markets were choppy on Thursday as investors weighed talks in the Middle East before a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was announced late in the day’s trading.
Dublin
Euronext Dublin finished the day down 2 per cent, dragged down by Ryanair, which suffered a hit on the back of a profit warning from EasyJet in the UK.
The Dublin-based airline sank 6.4 per cent after EasyJet warned the impact of the Iran war on bookings and oil prices will hit its profits, having driven up fuel costs by £25 million (€28.8 million) in the last month alone.
“The Irish market was skewed a little bit today with weakness in the airline sector after EasyJet came out with that unscheduled warning,” a trader said. “That impacted the sector generally as well as Ryanair.”
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There was weakness too in financial stocks with AIB and Bank of Ireland down 1.2 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively.
The index was somewhat buoyed by heavyweights Kerry Group, which finished the day up marginally, and Cavan-based insulation specialist Kingspan, which rose 0.4 per cent.
Among the home builders, Cairn Homes sank 0.9 per cent while Glenveagh Properties dropped 0.5 per cent.
London
The UK’s main indexes closed higher, lifted by energy stocks, as doubts about lasting resolution in the Middle East sent oil prices higher before the announcement of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.29 per cent higher, while the midcap FTSE 250 rose 0.5 per cent.
Oil BP and Shell gained 3.9 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively, as Brent crude rose over 3 per cent.
Industrial metal miners rose 0.8 per cent, tracking extended gains in base metals aluminium and copper. Rio Tinto rose 0.7 per cent; Glencore and Anglo American up 0.5 per cent each.
Tesco climbed 4.7 per cent even as the food retailer said profit outlook was clouded due to the Middle East conflict. The broader personal care, drug, grocery index was up 0.4 per cent.
Heavyweight banks dropped 0.3 per cent with lender NatWest Group down 1 per cent and Barclays down 0.7 per cent. Money manager Ashmore sank 4.8 per cent after the US-Iran war led to net outflows.
Construction Morgan Sindall jumped 7.3 per cent after lifting profit outlook, sending construction and materials index up 1.8 per cent.
EasyJet slipped 5 per cent after it warned of its bigger first-half loss owing to increased fuel prices.
Europe
In European equities the Cac 40 in Paris ended flat while the Dax 40 in Frankfurt rose 0.4 per cent and the European Stoxx 600 fell 0.03 per cent.
Euro zone government bond yields nudged lower and further reduced bets on an imminent ECB rate hike, as optimism grew that the war in the Middle East may be near an end. Unlike world stocks, however, bonds remain well off pre-war levels.
Germany’s 10-year bond yield, the euro zone benchmark, dropped 1.5 basis points to 3.03 per cent, moving further from late March’s high of 3.13 per cent.
New York
The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq touched intraday record highs as optimism surrounding a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon buoyed sentiment, reassuring investors that the worst of the Middle East conflict had passed.
In late morning trading the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.06 per cent; the S&P 500 gained 0.27 per cent; and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.38 per cent.
US beverages giant PepsiCo gained 2 per cent after beating quarterly profit estimates.
Abbott declined 4.3 per cent, to its lowest level since November 2023 after cutting its full-year profit forecast, while Charles Schwab and Travelers fell 5.3 per cent and nearly 1 per cent respectively after their results.
Voyager Technologies rose 5.2 per cent after Nasa signed an order for the company to conduct the seventh private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, the company’s first selection for such a mission. (Additional reporting: Agencies)
