Global stocks rise as investors look for signs of recovery

A global gauge of stock markets rose on Tuesday as investors continued to look for signs of an economic recovery while US Treasury debt prices were little changed amid a fog of rising Covid-19 cases.

Dublin

Most stocks on Euronext Dublin were down about 2 per cent on what was described by traders as a “subdued” day for the market.

Building materials group CRH traded about 900,000 shares and finished the day down 0.6 per cent, but volumes elsewhere were low.

With fears for the tourism industry growing despite the easing of lockdown of restrictions, Dalata – the largest hotel operator in the State – ended the day down 3.5 per cent, while Irish Continental Group, which owns Irish Ferries, was down 4 per cent. Ryanair, meanwhile, was down 1.5 per cent.

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Elsewhere, Paddy Power Betfair owner Flutter Entertainment shed 2 per cent of its share price, while Bank of Ireland and AIB were both down 1 per cent.

In terms of positive moves, Ires Reit, Ireland's biggest landlord, ended the day up 1.5 per cent, while packaging company Smurfit Kappa added 1.5 per cent to its price.

London

The FTSE 100 fell on Tuesday after data showing Britain’s economy shrank by the most since 1979 in the first three months of the year took the shine off one of the strongest quarters for UK stocks since the global financial crisis.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed 0.9 per cent lower, weighed down by a 4 per cent decline in Royal Dutch Shell after it said it planned to write down the value of its assets by up to $22 billion on a lower outlook for oil and gas prices.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 eased 0.5 per cent, with energy firms leading declines.

The FTSE 100 ended the quarter 8.8 per cent higher, its biggest such gain since 2010, as a raft of global stimulus and a pick-up in business activity after the easing of coronavirus-driven lockdowns bolstered optimism about a post-pandemic economic recovery.

Homebuilder Redrow slipped 6.8 per cent after saying it expected its turnover to drop more than a third this year.

Europe

European stocks slipped, with banks and energy firms leading the losses at the end of a strong quarter.

The Stoxx 600 posted a 12.6 per cent rise in the second quarter – its best since March 2015 – as unprecedented stimulus, hopes of a Covid-19 vaccine and relatively fewer virus cases in Europe powered a rebound from March lows.

However, it fell about half a per cent on Tuesday, with banks and oil and gas firms falling more than 1.5 per cent.

Chipmakers STMicroelectronics, Infineon Technologies and ASM International rose between 1.6 per cent and 5.8 per cent following an upbeat revenue forecast from US-based Micron Technology.

Europe’s broader energy index fell 1.4 per cent as oil prices slipped on a possible return of Libyan production.

Scandal-hit payments company Wirecard jumped 75.8 per cent, extending gains for a second day.

New York

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes gained, inching closer to ending their best quarter since 1998 as improving economic data restored faith in a stimulus-backed rebound for the US economy.

“We are finishing up one of the best quarters in history, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see a little bit of window dressing taking place on the last day,” said Sal Bruno, chief investment officer at IndexIQ in New York.

All the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading slightly higher, with real-estate and information technology stocks leading gains.

In company news, Boeing tumbled 5 per cent and was the biggest drag on the blue-chip Dow after Norwegian Air cancelled orders for 97 aircraft and said it would claim compensation.

Micron Technology jumped 6.7 per cent as it forecast higher-than-expected current-quarter revenue on strong demand for its chips that power notebooks and data centres.

Uber Technologies rose 3.8 per cent after reports said the ride-hailing services company was in talks to buy food-delivery app Postmates. (Additional reporting: agencies)