European shares drop on poor industry data while US bond yields tumble

Markets across Europe dropped back again after closely-watched industry surveys for the month underwhelmed traders.

In the US, stocks wavered and bond yields tumbled as investors braced themselves for a flurry of economic data and testimony from US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell before the House financial services committee.

Dublin

The Iseq index was down more than 0.7 per cent by the end of the session, its decline due in large part to sharp falls in the two pillar banks. AIB group was fined more than €96 million by the Central Bank of Ireland over its handling of the tracker mortgage crisis. AIB fell almost 5 per cent to close at €2.43. Bank of Ireland, which is yet be fined, was down by 7.5 per cent to €6.16.

Food company Glanbia was up by 1.3 per cent to €10.11 per share, after the company announced a €50 million share buyback programme.

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London

The FTSE 100 ended the day down 68.77 points, or 0.97 per cent, at 7,020.45.

Gambling giant 888 slipped in value after it warned that half-year revenues are set to drop due to the UK’s crackdown on online gambling and its temporary exit from the Netherlands. The group — which is soon to complete its £2.1 billion takeover of William Hill’s UK and European businesses — said turnover for the first half of the year is set to fall to between £330 million and £335 million. Shares in the firm declined by 14.6p to 160.7p as a result.

Naked Wines shed more than two-fifths of its value after the online wine retailer cautioned over sales and earnings for the year ahead. The group warned that sales could fall by up to 4 per cent in the year to the end of next March, while it expects to only break even on an underlying earnings basis. Shares finished the session 125.3p lower at 162.1p.

Shares in Trainline were derailed as UK rail strikes continued for a second day with little sign of a resolution and concerns grew that strike actions could continue beyond this week. The firm dropped by 32.1p to 284.6p as its finance boss also departed for online retailer Boohoo.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado, up 35.6p at 855.4p, Hikma, up 44p at 1,546.5p, and BT Group, up 3.6p at 185.15p. The biggest fallers were Antofagasta, down 72.5p at 1,171.5p, British Land, down 27.9p at 477.5p, and Rolls-Royce, down 4.26p at 81.85p

Europe

The German Dax decreased by 1.76 per cent by the end of the session, while the French Cac fell 0.56 per cent.

French biotech group Valneva surged 19.6 per cent after its Covid-19 vaccine was endorsed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Valneva has been trying to salvage a deal with the European Commission after its vaccine programme was hit by delays in its marketing application due to requests from the EMA for more information.

German real estate group Aroundtown tanked almost 7 per cent, after JP Morgan downgraded the stock to “underweight”.

New York

The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose again after paring earlier gains. US treasury yields dropped, with the 10-year yield hovering around 3.02 per cent. The dollar was little changed.

Occidental Petroleum rose 1.7 per cent after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought another 9.6 million shares of the oil company, boosting its stake to 16.3 per cent.

Snowflake climbed 8.1 per cent after JP Morgan upgraded the cloud software company’s stock to “overweight” from “neutral”.

Meanwhile, US corporations with big overseas operations have started to flag risks from the dollar, which hit a 20-year high earlier this month. Accenture fell 2.1 per cent after the IT services company tempered its earnings expectations for the year due to rising inflation and a stronger dollar.

Additional reporting: PA/Reuters/Bloomberg