Global stock indexes fell on Monday after last week’s blowout US jobs data prompted investors to weigh the possibility that the Federal Reserve may have finished cutting interest rates.
Dublin
Euronext Dublin lagged international peers as it dropped about 1 per cent.
Housebuilders Cairn Homes and Glenveagh Properties were among the main laggards, down 5.6 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.
“Cairn Homes has results out on Tuesday, so there were obviously some jitters there,” said a trader. “Glenveagh will obviously be disappointed too. The market reaction to last week’s results hasn’t been great.”
Among building suppliers, insulation specialist Kingspan ended the day down 1 per cent, while Grafton Group, which owns Woodies DIY, was down 3.5 per cent at close of business in advance of reporting results on Tuesday.
Most of the airlines were down also. Ryanair dipped 3.2 per cent, while Air France was down 3 per cent and EasyJet was down 2.7 per cent.
It was a better day for the banks as AIB and Bank of Ireland climbed 0.5 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively.
London
British equities ended lower as investors shied away from risky assets after last week’s US jobs report reinforced views that the Federal Reserve would be cautious about cutting interest rates this year.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 dipped 0.3 per cent, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 midcap index slipped 0.1 per cent.
British bonds have been at the heart of a recent global bond market sell-off, with a sharp rise in borrowing costs fuelling concerns about Britain’s fiscal sustainability.
The energy sector was an outlier, up 1.4 per cent as crude prices gained on expectations that wider US sanctions on Russian oil would force buyers in India and China to seek other suppliers.
Higher crude oil prices weighed on airline stocks, with Aer Lingus-owner International Airlines Group, Wizz Air and EasyJet down between 2.2 per cent and 3.6 per cent.
Biotech firm Oxford Nanopore Technologies jumped 8.9 per cent after forecasting an increase in its full-year revenue.
PageGroup dipped 3.2 per cent after the recruiter issued its second profit warning in six months.
Europe
European stocks fell as rising bond yields stoked concerns over equity market valuations, while technology shares underperformed.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index ended the session 0.6 per cent lower, falling for a second day.
Germany’s Dax, France’s Cac and Italy’s FTSE MiB all lost 0.3 per cent while Spain’s Ibex fell by 0.5 per cent.
Semiconductor stocks dropped, notably suppliers to Apple after an influential analyst expected iPhone shipments to fall below Wall Street estimates this year.
Energy stocks were a bright spot after oil hit a four-month high on a fresh wave of US sanctions against Russia’s energy industry.
Among individual stock moves, Porsche AG gained after giving an update on the number of cars it delivered last year, and marine shipping firm Frontline advanced following a broker upgrade.
New York
US stocks declined, with the S&P 500 hitting a two-month low as bond yields surged following strong payroll data last week.
By noon the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.22 per cent; S&P 500 lost 0.63 per cent; and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.33 per cent.
The domestically sensitive Russell 2000 index declined 0.9 per cent to its lowest level since September, extending Friday’s decline, which saw it enter correction territory after falling more than 10 per cent from its November intraday record high.
Megacaps were down, with Tesla sliding 1.5 per cent, Apple dropping 2.4 per cent and Alphabet losing 1.6 per cent, sending the Nasdaq to a more than one-month low.
Some chip stocks fell, with Nvidia dropping 2.9 per cent and Advanced Micro Devices slipping 0.5 per cent after the US government said it would further restrict artificial-intelligence chip and technology exports.
Moderna slid 21.8 per cent to the bottom of the S&P 500 after slashing its 2025 sales forecast. – Additional reporting: Agencies
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