Global markets reacted positively to UK and US inflation data released on Wednesday. Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief after a surprise slowdown in inflation spurred a stock rally and a plunge in bond yields, reinforcing bets the Federal Reserve is on track to keep cutting rates this year.
Dublin
The overall Iseq index was up 0.23 per cent on Wednesday. Kingspan rose 2.76 per cent to €67.00 a share. There was also a rally for Irish food names, with Origin Enterprises rising 3.18 per cent to €2.75 and Glanbia up 1.97 per cent to €13.95.
AIB fell 1.61 per cent to €5.49 and Bank of Ireland rose marginally by 0.18 to €9.08. Ryanair fell 0.49 per cent to €18.44. Dalata Hotels was up 0.85 per cent to €4.74. Cairn Homes rose 0.49 per cent to €2.07 and Glenveagh Properties was up 1.22 per cent to €1.49 a share.
London
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed up 1.2 per cent. Investors increased their bets on the Bank of England cutting rates, putting an 84 per cent chance on a first quarter-point reduction on February 6th, the date of its next scheduled monetary policy announcement.
British government bond yields retreated from multi-decade highs on Wednesday, boosting rate-sensitive sectors.
Homebuilders led gains among the major FTSE sectors, jumping 5.7 per cent. Real estate advanced 3.6 per cent, while real estate investment trusts gained 3.9 per cent.
British banks such as Standard Chartered, Barclays and NatWest were up between 3.3 per cent and 6.6 per cent.
Currys surged about 11 per cent after the electricals retailer raised its annual profit outlook after reporting a 2 per cent rise in underlying sales for the Christmas trading period.
Europe
The pan-European Stoxx 600 jumped 1.3 per cent and snapped a three-day losing streak, and saw its best intraday percentage gain since September 2024.
The rate-sensitive real estate sector was the biggest boost to the benchmark index, surging 3.3 per cent, while a 2 per cent gain in financial stocks also provided support.
In France the Cac 40 ended 0.94 per cent higher for the day, and in Frankfurt the Dax index was up 1.7 per cent.
Euro zone industrial production rose as expected in November but not enough to erase earlier losses. A poll showed the European Central Bank will extend back-to-back interest rate cuts at least until July in an effort to shield the weak euro zone economy.
Vistry surged 15.7 per cent as the housebuilder kept its 2024 earnings forecast.
France’s Bureau Veritas and Swiss testing and inspection company SGS said they were in merger talks. Bureau Veritas was up 2 per cent, while SGS dropped 6.4 per cent.
New York
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.34 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 1.38 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.87 per cent.
The benchmark S&P 500 touched a one-week high, driven by lower-than-expected December core inflation data and robust quarterly earnings from major US banks.
A Department of Labor report showed the consumer price index rose in line with expectations in December. Still, markets were focused on the core consumer price index figure, which advanced 3.2 per cent, lower than estimates of a 3.3 per cent rise.
Traders were pricing in nearly even odds that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice by the end of 2025, with the first reduction to come in July.
The yield on the benchmark Treasury note dipped from its 14-month high and was last at 4.66 per cent.
JPMorgan Chase & Co climbed 1.4 per cent after the lending giant posted a record annual profit in the fourth quarter, while Wells Fargo added 6.1 per cent after its fourth-quarter profit beat Street expectations as a rebound in dealmaking activity boosted its investment banking business.
Goldman Sachs was up 5.9 per cent at one point after posting its best quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2021, while Citigroup swung to a profit in the fourth quarter, sending its shares up 5.6 per cent.
– Additional reporting: agencies
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