Global stocks rose on Tuesday as markets eyed upcoming economic data as well as a plethora of corporate earnings, brushing aside the political fallout from US president Joe Biden’s decision to end his re-election bid.
Dublin
Euronext Dublin was up 42 basis points at close of business, but there was no respite for budget airline Ryanair following the rout it suffered on Monday after reporting a quarterly profit slump. The airline finished the day down 4 basis points just 24 hours after its shares fell by more than 17 per cent in Dublin on Monday.
But that scarcely told the story of the stock, which was described by one trader as “the main flavour of the day again”.
“There was not much fluctuation in the price,” she said. “But there was a lot of volume again, and it was still under pressure, down near the lows of the day. There are still people selling – put it that way – they didn’t get any relief after such an awful day on Monday.”
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The airlines peer groups EasyJet and Wizz Air each finished slightly up.
Elsewhere, there was more good news for the banks as AIB and Bank of Ireland ended the day up 1.2 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively. “Both are still gaining ground,” said a trader. “They’ve had a very good performance over the past while – the banks have had great momentum.”
Meanwhile, housebuilder Cairn Homes ended the day down 2 per cent. “It’s had a massive run over the past two weeks so it just ran out of a bit of steam,” said a trader.
Meanwhile, shares in the London-listed pharma group Hvivo sank almost 5 per cent after serial entrepreneur Cathal Friel raised £6.14 million (€7.3m) by selling his entire 3.1 per cent stake in the group.
London
Britain’s FTSE 100 closed lower, pressured by commodity-linked stocks which tracked declines in prices of oil and copper, while positive earning updates from companies helped offset declines. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.4 per cent, after logging its best session in over a week on Monday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 0.2 per cent.
Industrial metal miners fell 1.9 per cent, with heavyweights like Rio Tinto and Glencore slipping over 1.5 per cent and 2.2 per cent each as concerns of weak Chinese demand weighed on prices of copper. The sector hit its lowest level since early April.
Automobile and parts stocks led the declines, falling 2.6 per cent, with Dowlais Group, TI Fluid Systems and Aston Martin falling between 0.9 per cent and 3.9 per cent after German automaker Porsche AG cut its sales and profitability outlook.
Europe
It was a mixed session across Europe, with Germany’s Dax outperforming its peers and jumping 1.74 per cent higher. Meanwhile, France’s Cac 40 closed 0.31 per cent lower.
Elsewhere, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index finished up 0.07 per cent, helped by a rally in technology-related shares.
New York
Wall Street’s main indexes rose on a boost from megacaps ahead of Alphabet and Tesla earnings as investors assessed if the recent rally had fuel enough to sustain the charge, while United Parcel Service hit a nearly four-year low on weak results.
Apple, Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Amazon.com rose between 1 per cent and 3.3 per cent.
Tesla and Alphabet are set to publish results after markets close. While the Google parent’s shares were up 0.7 per cent, the EV-maker’s dropped 1 per cent.
Meanwhile, United Parcel Service, seen as a bellwether for the global economy, slumped 13.2 per cent after missing earnings estimates on subdued package delivery demand and higher labour-contract costs.
Among others Spotify jumped 12.2 per cent after posting a record quarterly profit slightly ahead of expectations, while General Motors dropped 6.8 per cent despite a second-quarter results beat and a higher annual profit forecast.
Coca-Cola rose 1 per cent after it increased its annual sales and profit forecasts, while Comcast lost 4.3 per cent after missing revenue estimates. – Additional reporting: Agencies
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