Business

European stocks climb 2% on Friday but still down for the week

Better than expected US jobs data boosted equity markets but energy concerns remain heightened

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange: data showed US employers hired more workers than expected in August. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Fri Sep 2 2022 - 19:20

European stocks rose 2 per cent on Friday, recording gains for the first time in six days after key US jobs data eased bets of a more aggressive Federal Reserve, but logged their third straight week of falls on concerns over a spike in energy prices.

Data showed US employers hired more workers than expected in August, but moderate wage growth and a rise in the unemployment rate could ease pressure on the Fed to deliver a third 75 basis point interest rate hike this month.

Dublin

The Iseq index gained 2.2 per cent on Friday, boosted by strong performances from CRH and Ryanair. The building materials giant, which has high exposure to the US economy, rose 3.1 per cent to €36.87. Ryanair added 2 per cent as the airline saw a record number of passengers in August for the fourth straight month.

AIB closed 3 per cent higher at €2.31, while Bank of Ireland was up 3.2 per cent at €6.20.

READ MORE

Elsewhere, packaging group Smurfit Kappa advanced 3 per cent to €33.94, Kingspan jumped 5.7 per cent to €58.66 and food group Kerry finished up 1.2 per cent at €100.40.

London

UK stocks closed higher, but fears around surging inflation, a looming recession and the policy direction under a new prime minister set to be announced on Monday drove weekly losses for the main indexes. Polls place Liz Truss, who has based her campaign on promises to slash taxes, as favourite to succeed Boris Johnson.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 1.9 per cent but suffered its worst weekly showing since June 24th, with losses of nearly 2 per cent. The FTSE 250 mid-cap index also gained 1.9 per cent, snapping a nine-day losing streak. Its weekly loss was 1.7 per cent.

Shell advanced 2.2 per cent after the oil major and Exxon Mobil confirmed the sale of their California oil joint-venture Aera to German asset manager IKAV for $4 billion (€4 billion).

BP rose 2.8 per cent, tracking firm crude prices on bets that OPEC+ will discuss output cuts at a meeting on September 5th.

UK housebuilders tumbled after HSBC warned that the country is on the cusp of a housing downturn, as a steep climb in mortgage rates casts a cloud over demand.

Europe

The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 2 per cent, but clocked a weekly decline of 2 per cent. In Frankfurt, the Dax added 3.3 per cent, while in Paris, the Cac 40 closed 2.2 per cent higher.

Flows of Russian gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany remained at zero on Friday after Russia’s Gazprom halted supplies for a three-day maintenance outage on Wednesday.

Credit Suisse rose 6.1 per cent following reports that Switzerland’s second-biggest bank is considering cutting around 5,000 jobs in a cost-reduction drive.

Philips slumped to its lowest level since July 2012 after a subsidiary of the Dutch medical device maker agreed to pay more than $24 million to resolve alleged false claims over respiratory-related medical equipment, the US Justice Department said.

Lacklustre August sales by Volvo Cars pushed shares of the Swedish automaker down 1.9 per cent.

US

Wall Street stocks jumped in early trading on expectations that cooling wage growth in August could help ease some price pressures and encourage the Federal Reserve to be less aggressive in its rate hike cycle.

All the S&P 500 sectors were higher in afternoon trading, while rate-sensitive growth stocks struggled after the Labor Department’s report showed US employers hired more workers than expected last month.

Energy stocks advanced 3 per cent as oil prices gained nearly 2 per cent in advance of OPEC+ meeting to discuss potential production cuts.

Banks added 2.2 per cent, led by a 2.7 per cent climb in shares of Bank of America.

Additional reporting: Reuters

LATEST STORIES