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Irish Times
29-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
European shares continue rise with improving tariff sentiment
European shares extended gains to a sixth session on Tuesday, with financials giving support following earnings from HSBC and Deutsche Bank, though focus was on how companies are assessing the implications of US tariffs. Dublin The Iseq All Share Index closed up 1.62 per cent to 10,377.75. Big banking shares gained with AIB up 1.97 per cent (€5.96) and Bank of Ireland by 1.47 per cent (€10.69). Permanent TSB, however, went the other way, its shares down 3.23 per cent to €1.50. That came on the day a review from the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council found a lack of robust competition in retail banking, and interest rates for loans to non-financial corporations consistently higher than in the overall euro area. READ MORE Housing stocks, too, were mixed. Cairn Homes closed up 1.71 per cent to €1.904 while Glenveagh was down 0.37 per cent to finish at €1.63. Ires Reit was up 0.79 per cent to €1.016. The Dalata Hotel group fell 1.74 per cent to €5.08. FBD shed 2.21 per cent to finish at €13.30. Ryanair closed up 2.95 per cent, its share price now at €20.61. London British stocks ended higher, led by gains in bank shares, with markets responding positively to White House news about automotive tariffs. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.6 per cent, marking its 12th consecutive winning session. The domestically focused mid-cap index advanced 0.4 per cent, posting its fifth straight session in green. Primark-owner Associated British Foods tumbled 9.2 per cent after reporting a 10 per cent fall in first-half profit. Banks led the sectoral gains, up 1.9 per cent. Heavyweight HSBC rose 2.6 per cent, topping the FTSE 100 index, after Europe's largest lender reported first-quarter profit above estimates and announced a $3 billion share buyback program. Among other stock-related moves, Howden Joinery gained 4.6% after posting higher revenue. Entain rose 3.3 per cent, after the Ladbrokes owner named Stella David as its permanent chief executive. Travis Perkins was the top performer among midcaps, rising 4.2 per cent. On the flip side, BP fell 2.4 per cent, after the oil major reported a deeper-than-expected 48 per cent drop in net profit. Europe The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.4 per cent higher, with the aerospace and defence index leading gains. Rheinmetall jumped 8.5 per cent after Europe's top ammunition maker posted a 46 per cent rise in preliminary first-quarter sales, primarily boosted by its defence business. The heavyweight healthcare sector rose 1.2 per cent. Novo Nordisk rose 2.4 per cent after the drugmaker said it was working with telehealth firms Hims & Hers, Ro and LifeMD to sell Wegovy. Shares of HSBC rose 3 per cent after the London-based lender launched a $3 billion share buyback. Deutsche Bank advanced 5 per cent after Germany's largest lender posted a 39 per cent rise in first-quarter profit. Porsche slipped 4.1 per cent after the German luxury sports car maker slashed a series of forecasts for 2025. Global markets have stabilised of late on growing optimism over easing US-China trade tensions after enduring selling pressures earlier this month as Mr Trump's tariff salvo rattled sentiment. New York Wall Street's main indexes moved higher in volatile trading. A day after US officials said the Trump administration will move to reduce the impact of automotive tariffs, shares of Ford were only marginally higher and Tesla fell 0.6 per cent. The blue-chip Dow got a boost as Honeywell jumped 5.4 per cent on reporting a rise in adjusted profit for the first quarter. Paintmaker Sherwin-Williams gained 5 per cent after its quarterly profit beat estimates. However, General Motors fell 1.6 per cent after the automaker pulled its annual forecast due to tariff uncertainty. Coca-Cola rose 0.6 per cent after beating revenue and profit estimates, while United Parcel Service edged 0.2 per cent lower after its quarterly results. Wells Fargo gained 1.3 per cent after announcing a stock buyback program of up to $40 billion. By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 243.76 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 40,471.35, the S&P 500 gained 13.75 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 5,542.50 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 26.30 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 17,392.44. Additional reporting: Reuters
Irish Times
22-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
European stocks up despite bleak IMF economic report
European shares ended slightly higher though sentiment remained shaky after US president Donald Trump's critique of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. Britain's economic outlook faced a big setback as the International Monetary Fund delivered its steepest downgrade for any big European economy, cutting the UK's 2025 growth forecast from 1.6 per cent to 1.1 per cent. DUBLIN The Iseq All Share Index finished up 0.47 per cent to 10,014.30. Hostelworld was the largest faller on the day. The company, whose chairman Ulrik Bengtsson last month announced his intention to step down later this year, saw its shares drop 14.29 per cent to €1.50. READ MORE Elsewhere, there were declines for Glanbia, down 2.37 per cent to €9.87, Kingspan which slipped 0.21 per cent to €70.60 and toolmaker Mincon Group which fell 2.5 per cent to €0.39. In banking, AIB and Bank of Ireland both advanced, by 1.28 per cent and 0.69 per cent respectively, while Permanent TSB climbed 1.65 per cent by the close. Hotel group Dalata, whose €80 million-plus bid for rival Radisson's property at Dublin Airport, is now under review by the competition regulator, climbed 0.19 per cent to finish at €5.14. LONDON Britain's FTSE 100 index edged higher, extending its winning streak to seven consecutive sessions after the long Easter weekend, led by consumer staples and financial shares. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.6 per cent to its highest level since April 4th while the midcap index was little changed. DCC languished at the bottom of the blue-chip index after the conglomerate confirmed the sale if its healthcare division to private equity firm Investindustrial Advisors. Its shares fell 3.6 per cent on investor disappointment at the price secured. Supermarket J Sainsbury rose 2.3 per cent after JP Morgan raised its target price on the stock. Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket group, also ended higher, gaining 1.5 per cent. Heavyweight financials added 1.2 per cent. Mining shares rose 0.9 per cent after copper prices in London hit a more than two-week high. Homebuilders extended their winning streak to a fifth-straight session with a 1 per cent climb. EUROPE The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended 0.2 per cent higher, well off session lows, with L'Oréal jumping 6.3 per cent for its best single-day gain in nearly seven months. European banks also had a strong start to the shortened trading week, finishing 0.7 per cent higher while the basic resources index – which includes Europe's biggest mining companies – gained 1.2 per cent on the back of higher metal prices. However, heightened global trade tensions remained at the heart of investor concerns as they returned from an extended Easter weekend. The ECB's survey of professional forecasters indicated euro zone inflation could be a touch higher this year than earlier thought, but will then stabilise at the European Central Bank's 2 per cent target. Shares in Swiss insurers Helvetia and Baloise rose 2.6 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively after they said they plan to merge, creating Switzerland's second-largest insurance group. On the downside, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk dropped 7.4 per cent to its lowest since October 2022, in the wake of trial results from US rival Eli Lilly's experimental pill for weight loss showed it working just as well as Novo Nordisk's blockbuster drug Ozempic. The region-wide healthcare index fell 0.6 per cent. Danish renewables company Orsted fell 4.7 per cent after Barclays cut the company's stock to 'underweight' from 'equal weight'. NEW YORK Wall Street's main indices rebounded on Tuesday from a steep sell-off in the previous session sparked by president Donald Trump's mounting criticism of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. Some optimism on US trade negotiations also helped indices hit session highs. Earnings were a mixed bag on the day. Shares of industrial conglomerate 3M, the biggest gainer on the blue-chip Dow, jumped 6.9 per cent after the company beat first-quarter profit expectations. Megacaps also recovered, with Nvidia rising 1.9 per cent and Apple up 2.8 per cent. Northrop Grumman slumped 11.75 per cent after reporting a sharp drop in profit, while RTX tumbled 8.9 per cent after the company flagged a potential hit of about $850 million to its annual profit from the tariffs. The overall mood remained fragile as investors awaited Mr Trump's next move in his relentless tussle with Mr Powell over interest rates. Wall Street had been down more than 2 per cent on Monday. While the S&P 500 recovered the ground it had lost on Monday, it has yet to fully recoup declines since the April 2nd 'liberation day' tariff announcement.
