Aviation stocks pull European shares indices lower
Aviation stocks plunged globally on Thursday after an Air India flight crashed in India, killing at least 200 people, while concerns about rising tensions in the Middle East weighed heavily on investor sentiment.
With question marks hanging over the US and China's trade truce, risk assets sold off as investors jumped into safe havens, including gold.
Dublin
The Iseq index closed 0.7 per cent lower on Thursday as Ryanair and listed home builders Cairn Homes and Glenveagh edged lower.
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Ryanair dropped 2.7 per cent to €23.85 per share after the fatal air crash in India involving a Boeing aircraft.
Glenveagh and Cairn Homes were down by 1 per cent and 0.7 per cent to close at €1.81 and €2.25 per share, respectively.
Thursday's decline for the home-building sector followed a surge on Wednesday after the Government unveiled its significant reforms to its rental sector regulations.
Banking stocks, meanwhile, were mixed with AIB up 1 per cent to €7.04 per share while Bank of Ireland shed 1 per cent to close at €12.16.
Kingspan improved by 0.5 per cent to €78.15 per share and Kerry Group was essentially flat on the session at €97.45.
London
Bucking European trends, the benchmark FTSE 100 index advanced by 0.2 per cent, closing near a record high amid strong buying in the energy sector. The mid-cap FTSE 250, meanwhile, closed down by 0.2 per cent.
Halma led the blue-chip index on Thursday after the British health and safety device-maker forecast higher revenue growth for fiscal year 2026 and beat annual profit expectations, sending its shares to a record high.
Energy stocks also helped buoy the FTSE with oil majors BP and Shell up by 1.9 per cent and 1.2 per cent on the session.
Precious metal miners advanced 3.2 per cent, tracking higher gold prices as investors moved into the traditional safe-haven asset.
Moving down the index, Aer Lingus owner IAG fell by more than 3.1 per cent and EasyJet shed 3.8 per cent as part of a wider sectoral move after Thursday's Air India crash.
Among other stocks, Intermediate Capital Group and JD Sports lost 3.5 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively, as they traded without entitlement to their latest dividend payout.
Europe
Airline's dragged Europe's main stock indices lower, with the Stoxx 50 falling by more than 0.6 per cent and the pan-European Stoxx 600 down 0.3 per cent.
Air France plunged 7.2 per cent while German carrier Lufthansa sank 3.7 per cent lower.
Automakers Mercedes, Ferrari and Stellantis shed between 0.7 per cent and 2.7 per cent, while BMW edged 0.5 per cent lower and Volkswagen dropped by 0.9 per cent.
Luxury brands Kering, down 3.1 per cent, and LVMH, down 0.3 per cent, also lost momentum.
New York
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged higher on Thursday as Oracle's results boosted optimism around artificial intelligence, offsetting concerns around rising tensions in the Middle East and a drop in Boeing shares.
Oracle shares shot up nearly 14 per cent to record highs after the cloud service provider raised its annual revenue growth forecast, driven by strong demand for its AI-related cloud services.
Alphabet declined 1.1 per cent, while Nvidia nudged 0.3 per cent higher.
Boeing declined 5 per cent after an Air India 787-8 Dreamliner jet crashed minutes after taking off in India's western city of Ahmedabad, killing more than 200 people.
U.S.-listed shares of gold miners also advanced, as bullion prices hit a one-week high. Newmont gained 2.4 per cent, Harmony Gold was up 2.1 per cent and AngloGold Ashanti rose 5.2 per cent. – Additional reporting: Reuters, Bloomberg
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