Defence industry reverses early European share decline
Despite signs of a concurrent decline for the European benchmark, surging defence and industry stocks aided in the index closing higher on Thursday.
Corporate earnings reports remained in the spotlight and the continentwide Stoxx 600 index was up 0.6 per cent
DUBLIN
The Iseq All-Share index ended the session down 0.35 per cent, or 39.13, to 11,124.21.
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Strong performances by defensive stocks such as Glanbia, up 1.09 per cent to €12.08, and Kerry Group, up 1.03 per cent to €93.60, were not enough to keep the index in the green. Healthcare group Uniphar rose 3.03 per cent to €3.40.
Kenmare Resources rose 1.31 per cent to €4.64 following its agm where the company said its former managing director, Michael Carvill and an Abu Dhabi private equity firm have been given a second extension to announce a firm intention to make a bid for the business.
Insulation group Kingspan saw the biggest fall on the day, dropping 3.43 per cent to €77.50.
Datalex, the Dublin-listed retail software provider to airlines, fell 2.86 per cent after the group said its loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation widened 7 per cent last year to $3.1 million (€2.76 million).
Budget airliner Ryanair rose 0.89 per cent to €22.70, with the highest turnover and volume on the market.
LONDON
British stocks ended higher on Thursday after stronger domestic GDP data, while investors assessed mixed corporate earnings.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.6 per cent, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 gained 0.1 per cent.
Britain's economy grew more strongly than expected in the first quarter of 2025, providing a boost to the government and finance minister Rachel Reeves.
Last week, the Bank of England's surprisingly hawkish stance slashed June rate cut expectations, with markets now anticipating quarterly rather than consecutive cuts.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals gained 7.4 per cent, the most among FTSE 100 stocks, after the British drugmaker introduced a five-year revenue target of £5 billion in 2030.
National Grid shares climbed 3 per cent after the renewable energy firm exceeded annual profit estimates.
Sports retailer JD Sports gained 1.4 per cent after reports that American retailer Dick's Sporting Goods was nearing a deal to buy rival Footlocker.
Keeping gains at check, the energy index fell 2.1 per cent, tracking lower oil prices on expectations of a US-Iran nuclear deal.
Sage fell 3.8 per cent and was among the top losers in the blue chip index, after the software company's North America revenue growth slowed.
EUROPE
The European benchmark rose 0.6 per cent with most regional indexes following suit, including Germany's which was up 0.7 per cent at the close.
Most defence stocks were higher, with Hensoldt up 8.8 per cent, Rheinmetall up 5.7 per cent and Leonardo gaining 4 per cent. The broader aerospace and defence index in Europe was up 2.3 per cent.
France's Engie, London's National Grid and United Utilities jumped after their quarterly reports and lifted the utilities sector 1.9 per cent.
Telecommunication stocks were the biggest gainers, helped by a 2.8 per cent increase in Deutsche Telekom after it reported first-quarter profit slightly above expectations.
Most sectors on the benchmark Stoxx 600 were higher, although a pullback in commodity prices weighed on resource-linked companies.
Big oil firms bore the brunt, with BP and Amsterdam-listed Shell shares falling 3.3 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively. The energy underperformed peers, falling 0.9 per cent.
Basic resources also incurred heavy losses as industrial metal prices moved lower.
NEW YORK
The S&P 500 teetered between gains and losses in mid afternoon trading on Thursday as elation from the US-China tariff truce tapered off, with UnitedHealth among the biggest losers after a report said the DoJ was investigating the insurer for fraud.
United Health Group plunged to a five-year low, dragging on other health insurers such as Humana and Molina Healthcare.
Executives at retail giant Walmart said the company would have to start raising prices later this month due to the high cost of tariffs, even as its first-quarter US comparable sales beat expectations. Its shares fell slightly after it also did not provide a second-quarter profit forecast.
Walmart joins a spate of companies across sectors that have either tweaked or pulled their forecasts, signalling that corporate United States is hunkering down for tariff-related uncertainties.
Megacap and growth stocks were marginally lower after falling earlier in the day, with Amazon trailing.
The energy sector declined as oil prices slid based on expectations of a US-Iran nuclear deal that could result in sanctions easing.
On the brighter side, Cisco Systems saw a leap after the networking-equipment maker raised its annual forecasts and named Mark Patterson its new CFO. – Additional reporting, Reuters, PA
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