Global shares rose on Wednesday, powered by a rise in technology stocks after US president Donald Trump announced mammoth spending plans for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, while the dollar sagged to a two-week low as tariffs were delayed.
Dublin
The overall Iseq index finished down 0.13 per cent. Among financial stocks AIB dropped 0.81 per cent to €5.52 and Bank of Ireland dropped 1.73 per cent to €9.41. Dalata Hotels fell 1.24 per cent to €4.78. Cairn Homes dropped 0.93 per cent to €2.13 and Glenveagh Properties fell 0.13 per cent to €1.56. Greencoat Renewables decreased 2.05 per cent to 0.76 cent a share.
Kingspan rose 1.24 per cent to €69.30 a share. Ryanair was up 0.26 to to €19.20. Kerry Group was up 0.10 per cent to €95.45 and Glanbia was down 0.21 per cent to €13.99. Irish Continental Group dropped 0.76 per cent to €5.20.
London
London’s FTSE 100 ended flat on Wednesday after touching a record high earlier in the session. The blue-chip FTSE 100 gradually lost steam to end marginally lower, snapping a five-day winning streak. A decline in heavyweight copper miners’ shares overshadowed positive corporate updates and expectations of further monetary policy easing.
Among individual stocks a slide in copper prices from one-month highs pressured shares of major producers Glencore and Rio Tinto by 0.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively.
EasyJet tumbled about 5 per cent as the airline flagged a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast for the second quarter.
Hochschild Mining tumbled 17 per cent to the bottom of the domestic FTSE 250 index after the miner issued fourth-quarter gold production forecasts.
Shares in Trainline fell nearly 7 per cent after Britain’s transport department announced plans for a new online train ticket retailer.
Quilter climbed 2.1 per cent after the wealth manager reported a rise in fourth-quarter managed assets, driven by nearly £2 billion (€2.36bn in net inflows from its wealthy clients.
Europe
The pan-European STOXX 600 closed 0.4 per cent higher at its highest level since September 2024. It was driven by heavyweight technology and industrial sectors, with markets seemingly unfazed by tariff anxieties stirred by recent declarations from Trump.
Europe’s infrastructure stocks such as Schneider Electric and Prysmian were some of the outperformers on Trump’s AI investment push.
Shares of Adidas jumped 6 per cent after the German sportswear brand reported what it said were better-than-expected preliminary fourth-quarter results, with strong sales and profitability for the important holiday shopping period.
Germany’s benchmark index outperformed its regional peers, adding 1 per cent to close at a record high.
Siemens Energy rose 6.5 per cent as the company expects a large tailwind from Trump’s announcement of up to $500 billion in private sector investment to fund infrastructure for AI.
Barry Callebaut dropped 8 per cent after the chocolate-maker and cocoa processor reported lower sales volume than expected for its first quarter.
New York
Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P 500 hitting an all-time high as investors cheered streaming giant Netflix’s strong quarterly performance and Trump’s support to bolster AI infrastructure.
Netflix jumped 10.9 per cent, sending the S&P 500 communication services sector up 2 per cent. The company reported a record number of subscribers for the holiday quarter, enabling it to increase prices for most service plans. Oracle gained 6.5 per cent.
The president has ordered federal agencies to complete comprehensive reviews of a range of trade issues by April 1st, the date that analysts at Barclays say markets should wait for to get more clarity on his tariff policy.
– Additional reporting: agencies
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