Stock markets were quiet on Monday as investors held off hoping for signs that central bankers would keep interest rats on hold this month.
Dublin
The Irish market opened on the bank holiday but remained more restrained than most others, traders said.
Index heavyweight, building materials giant CRH fell 1.14 per cent to €44.94. Ryanair inched 0.15 per cent up to €16.895, outperforming a few in its industry who saw their shares slide on Monday.
Housebuilder Glenveagh added 1.53 per cent to €1.06. AIB closed up 1.13 per cent at €3.944.
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London
Indivior jumped 7.8 per cent to 1,590 pence sterling after the drugmaker agreed to pay $102.5 million to settle a lawsuit for its opioid addiction treatment Suboxone.
Asos jumped 7.08 per cent to 375.2p on a report that said the fashion retailer received a £1 billion bid from Alibaba-backed rival Trendyol.
Aer Lingus-owner International Consolidated Airlines Group dipped 0.4 per cent to 157.25p even as chief executive Luis Gallego predicted a strong summer for travel at an industry gathering in Istanbul. The shares hit a low of 155.9p during trade.
Europe
The key European Stoxx 600 index, which tracks leading shares across 18 markets, nudged 0.15 per cent lower.
Air France KLM slid 3.3 per cent to €1.64 on a day when airlines proved unpopular with investors. Germany’s Lufthansa fell 2.06 per cent to €9.11.
The European oil and gas sector index climbed 0.9 per cent, lifted by rising oil prices after top global exporter Saudi Arabia pledged to cut production by another 1 million barrels per day from July.
US
US stocks drifted and Treasury yields fell as a gauge of US services offered a less upbeat assessment of the US economy.
The Institute for Supply Management’s overall gauge of services unexpectedly fell to the lowest level of the year, helping to erase earlier gains in the benchmark equities index.
A morning rally in energy stocks had briefly pushed the S&P 500 20 per cent above an October closing low. However, the gains were later tempered by demand fears. Crude oil futures rose 1.2 per cent while oil majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil pared gains to trade little changed.
The latest batch of economic data is offering a less rosy assessment of the US economy as traders attempt to predict the Federal Reserve’s path forward on interest rates. There’s increasing speculation the Fed plans to keep interest rates steady in June, but keep options open for later hikes. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters
