Global markets surge with cooler-than-expected inflation data

Global markets surged on Friday as investors prepared to close the books on the quarter with cooler-than-expected inflation data.

DUBLIN

Euronext Dublin finished the day up 1.4 per cent, outperforming a number of its international peers.

“It was the end of the first half of the year, so a lot of the moves were about what we call window dressing,” a trader noted. “Investors were basically getting their portfolio weights exactly as they want them for close of business. That was the main driver behind things.”

Most of the big names on the index traded in line with their peer groups. Building materials giant CRH was up 1.1 per cent; Kerry Group was up 1.5 per cent; while Ryanair was up 0.3 per cent.

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Bank of Ireland closed up 0.5 per cent, but it was outperformed by AIB, which climbed 1.8 per cent after it announced a move to raise mortgage interest rates again on Thursday.

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Insulation specialist Kingspan was up 2.3 per cent at close of business, outperforming its peers, which were up less than one per cent.

The Iseq was boosted by Paddy Power Betfair parent Flutter Entertainment, which climbed 2.5 per cent. That was largely in line with its UK peers, which were up between 2.5 per cent and 3 per cent.

LONDON

A last-minute minute rally from the FTSE 100 enabled it to end the month in the green, higher than where it finished in May, but only slightly.

The top index in London ended the day up 0.8 per cent as it benefited from better-than-expected house price figures from Nationwide.

“The FTSE 100 has disappointed, as it looks to try and finish the month higher, but well down on the gains it put on in the first quarter,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

Shares in Centrica were among those that rose, up 1.3 per cent. The energy giant revealed that it had nearly doubled the capacity at the UK’s largest gas storage site, Rough.

Elsewhere, Merlin Entertainments said that its revenue had risen 60 per cent to £2 billion (€2.3 billion), going past pre-pandemic levels.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado, up 26.6p to 566.8p, Hargreaves Lansdown, up 33p to 816.6p, Centrica, up 4p to 124.08p, Entain, up 39p to 1,273.75p, and IMI, up 47p to 1,641p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Airtel Africa, down 2.4p to 107.8p, United Utilities, down 14.6p to 961.6p, Severn Trent, down 27p to 2,566p, IAG, down 1.1p to 161.9p, and Vodafone, down 0.37p to 73.97p.

EUROPE

European stocks rose on China stimulus hopes, and extended their rally after the PCE report.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 1.18 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.94 per cent. Both Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 rose 1.3 per cent.

NEW YORK

US stocks rallied on Friday, setting up Wall Street for a strong second quarter, as Apple shares hit a record high and signs of easing inflation offered relief to investors worried about further interest rate hikes.

Apple rose 1.6 per cent to hit an all-time high and notched the $3 trillion (€2.8 trillion) market valuation mark for the first time since January 2022.

Helped by gains in Apple, technology stocks rose 1.6 per cent and led advance among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors.

At 9.58am eastern time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.66 per cent; the S&P 500 was up 1.03 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.36 per cent.

Nike fell 2.1 per cent after it forecast first-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations.

Carnival Corp jumped 7.7 per cent after Jefferies upgraded the cruise operator’s stock to “buy” from “hold”. — Additional reporting: Agencies