Flat Friday in Dublin market as Flutter joins Euro Stoxx 50

Global markets were largely unmoved on Friday, but there were some signs of optimism on the back of news that US president Donald Trump will leave the White House if the electoral college affirms democrat Joe Biden's win.

DUBLIN

Euronext Dublin finished the day flat as Paddy Power Betfair owner Flutter Entertainment was added to the Euro Stoxx 50 on Friday.

“There was considerable flow on the back of that,” noted one trader. It finished the day down 1.5 per cent with about 4 million shares traded.

AIB was an outperformer among the banks, ending the day up 3.5 per cent, while Bank of Ireland was only up 0.5 per cent. In food, Glanbia was up 3.5 per cent, while Kerry Group was up 2.8 per cent.

A tale of two pandemics for Smurfit Kappa and Greencore

---

European stocks set for fourth weekly gain but vaccine worries weigh

---

European stocks decline on global virus worries

---

Stocks and oil ride high on Biden transition and vaccine hopes

---

Ryanair was unchanged, but some of its peers lost ground. Among them was Aer Lingus parent International Airlines Group, which traded down 2 per cent.

In building and construction, CRH was down 1.5 per cent, Cairn Homes was up 2.3 per cent, while Glenveagh Properties was up 1.7 per cent on the back of news about new developments.

Elsewhere, C&C was down 2 per cent. "It has been having a very good run of late so it may have just been giving back some of those gains," said a trader.

LONDON

Domestically oriented British mid-cap stocks rose, but marked their first weekly loss this month as frictions in the Brexit process and a gloomy economic outlook due to coronavirus weighed on sentiment.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 0.3 per cent and lost 0.2 per cent for the week, while the blue-chip FTSE 100 ended the day and the week a touch higher.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Rightmove, up 17.6p at 624p, GVC Holdings, up 27p at 1,042.5p, Smith & Nephew, up 36.5p at 1,452.5p, Fresnillo, up 23.5p at 1,112p, and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, up 23p at 1,109p.

The biggest fallers of the day were Severn Trent, down 62p at 2,388p, DCC, down 136p at 5,686p, IAG, down 3.8p at 160.85p, Land Securities, down 12.4p at 665.1p, and United Utilities, down 15p at 899.2p.

EUROPE

European shares gained for a fourth straight week as investors looked past near-term virus damage and hoped for a quicker economic revival next year, while Spanish lender BBVA gained after ending merger talks with Banco Sabadell.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 0.4 per cent higher and added 0.93 per cent for the week, with tech and banks leading gains, while energy stocks were the top gainers for the week on rising oil prices.

BBVA gained 4.2 per cent and was among the top gainers on the benchmark index. Banco Sabadell shares fell 13 per cent, as the merger failure is expected to add pressure on the lender, which was seen as the weaker link in the potential transaction.

The two banks had looked for a deal to create Spain’s second-biggest domestic bank.

France’s benchmark CAC 40 index gained 0.8 per cent as the country reported another drop in infections and hospitalisations.

British drugmaker AstraZeneca reversed losses to rise 0.3 per cent as Britain and other countries pressed for a possible rollout even as experts raised questions about the results of its late-stage vaccine study.

NEW YORK

Wall Street’s main indexes rose and the tech-heavy Nasdaq hit a record high as optimism around an economic rebound next year outweighed fears of an expected surge in coronavirus infections following the Thanksgiving holiday.

Five of the 11 major S&P indexes were up by mid-morning, with information technology jumping 0.8 per cent on demand for stay-at-home winners Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia.

By 11.03am eastern time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.19 per cent, the S&P 500 was up 0.36 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.08 per cent.

Hopes of more stimulus, signs of progress in developing Covid-19 vaccines and encouraging economic data have lifted the three main US stock indexes by more than 10 per cent this month and set the S&P 500 on course for its best November ever.

– Additional reporting: Agencies