European shares closed at a record high on Monday, despite the US government’s threat to indict Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell which has raised concerns over its long-term independence.
Dublin
The Iseq All-Share index ended the session down marginally by 0.05 per cent to 13,073.32.
Big banks AIB and Bank of Ireland significantly outperformed the index and other financial institutions in neighbouring markets. AIB rose 0.96 per cent to reach €9.50, while Bank of Ireland added 0.42 per cent to its share price and hit €16.805.
Insulation and building materials specialist, Kingspan Group also beat the market, adding 0.68 per cent to its shares which rose to €73.75.
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The home builders saw their shares drop. Glenveagh shed 0.30 per cent while Cairn Homes dropped 0.47 per cent.
Ryanair was the biggest laggard, falling 1.24 per cent. The drop is in line with broader sectoral movements following Donald Trump’s move to cap credit card fees.
London
London’s FTSE 100 claimed a record close on Monday, as a rally in resource-focused stocks helped reverse early losses that were driven by market unrest following the Trump administration’s renewed attacks on the US Federal Reserve chair.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed 0.16 per cent higher. Meanwhile, the domestically focused mid-cap index slipped 0.06 per cent to snap a five-day streak of gains.
The pound strengthened against the dollar, adding some pressure to Britain’s export-oriented stocks. But the development prompted investors to flee to safe-haven assets with the index of precious metal miners jumping 5.4 per cent, after gold struck a record high of more than $4,600 (€3,941) an ounce.
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Industrial metals and mining index also jumped 2 per cent, powered by copper prices that were seen marching towards record highs.
Several banking stocks fell after Mr Trump on Friday called for a one-year, 10 per cent cap on credit card interest rates, starting on January 20th, but did not provide details. Barclays fell 2.4 per cent and Close Brothers Group slid 2.3 per cent.
Among other stocks, semiconductor wafer maker IQE soared 41.4 per cent – its biggest jump since March 2009 – after the company said it expects its revenue and adjusted core profit for fiscal 2025 to be at the upper end of its forecasts.
Europe
The European benchmark rebounded from losses earlier in the day to gain 0.21 per cent.
Heineken slid 4.1 per cent to its lowest level in three months after the Dutch brewer announced that its chief executive Dolf van den Brink will step down.
Investors weighed quarterly results from the auto sector. Porsche shares dropped 6 per cent on concerns that current estimates for the luxury carmaker’s results may be too high, while Volkswagen lost 1.3 per cent as vehicle deliveries fell 4.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025.
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Banks reversed earlier losses after Mr Trump on Friday called for the cap on credit card interest rates.
BE Semiconductor Industries advanced 7.3 per cent after the chip equipment supplier reported better-than-expected preliminary orders for the fourth quarter.
Shares of French biotech Abivax pared initial gains and ended up 5 per cent after a media report said US pharma giant Eli Lilly was still interested in buying the company.
New York
The S&P 500 had paused near record highs in midafternoon trading on Monday as gains in artificial intelligence stocks and Walmart helped the index recover from an early slide driven by concerns over the Federal Reserve’s independence.
The three main indexes opened lower after the Trump administration threatened to indict Fed chair Jerome Powell over his Congressional testimony on a renovation project.
Mr Powell called the move a “pretext” to gain more influence over interest rates that Mr Trump has pressed to cut sharply since taking office in January 2025.
Retail giant Walmart, which moved its listing to the Nasdaq from the NYSE last month, is set to join the Nasdaq-100 index on January 20th, a shift that could draw in billions of dollars from passive index funds. The stock gained as a result of the news.
Among AI stocks, Alphabet scaled $4 trillion market valuation for the first time, while Broadcom climbed.
Shares of lenders and credit card firms came under pressure after Mr Trump called for a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10 per cent.
Citigroup tumbled and credit-card firm American Express shed too. Buy-now, pay later firms Klarna and Affirm also fell. – Additional reporting, Reuters, PA
