Global stocks held steady on Tuesday as trade talks between the United States and China continued into a second day, giving investors some reason to believe tensions between the world’s two largest economies may be easing.
Dublin
Euronext Dublin outperformed its international as it finished the day up 0.6 per cent, boosted by homebuilders.
One of the best performers was Kingspan, which was up 2.4 per cent at close of business on what was described by a trader as a “strong day” for the Cavan-based insulation specialist.
Homebuilders Glenveagh Properties and Cairn Homes finished up 1.9 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively after the sector was boosted by a positive trading update from UK-based peer Bellway.
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Other highlights included food giant Kerry Group, which finished up 1.8 per cent, and healthcare group Uniphar, which climbed 2.7 per cent.
There was some weakness among the financial names, with Bank of Ireland and AIB down 1.7 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively.
Elsehwere, hotels group Dalata finished up 1.2 per cent. “There was an Irish Times article in the morning talking about how the company turned down a bid last week from the Pandox consortium, and the stock did feel reasonably strong throughout the day,” a trader said.
Meanwhile, budget airline Ryanair held on to its recent gains, up 1 per cent on the day, outperforming most of its peers.
London
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed 0.2 per cent higher to move within touching distance of its all-time high.
The home construction and household goods sector led the gains, up 5.4 per cent. It was driven by a 7.9 per cent rise in Bellway after the homebuilder raised its forecast for the numbers of homes it expects to build this year.
Rivals Vistry and Persimmon were up 9.4 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.
Energy shares climbed 3.5 per cent, tracking higher oil prices. Precious metal miners, however, posted heavy declines, down 4.8 per cent.
Hochschild Mining plunged almost 23 per cent after issuing a six-week shutdown at its Mara Rosa mine, following lower-than-expected gold output by the end of May.
Mid-caps in London were up 0.5 per cent, largely boosted by a 6.3 per cent rise in Aberdeen after JP Morgan upgraded the fund manager’s stock to “overweight” from “neutral”.
Europe
On the continent, the Stoxx 600 was little changed, constrained by UBS, whose shares dropped nearly 5 per cent as investors worried about the impact of new government proposals to force the Swiss bank to hold $26 billion (€22.8 billion) in extra capital.
Elsewhere, the Dax in Germany finished the day down 0.8 per cent, while the Cac in Paris finished up 0.2 per cent.
Euro zone government bond yields fell but hovered not far from the previous day’s levels. Germany’s 10-year yield, the benchmark for the euro zone, was down 4 basis points at 2.53 per cent.
New York
Wall Street’s main indexes were subdued in volatile trading as investors awaited a breakthrough in the ongoing US-China trade talks aimed at defusing a tariff dispute that has rocked global markets this year.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.02 per cent; the S&P 500 gained 0.1 per cent; and the Nasdaq Composite 0.04 per cent.
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 subsectors rose, led by a 1.9 per cent gain in energy, tracking strength in oil prices. Communication services stocks added 0.8 per cent. Most megacap and growth stocks were mixed. Tesla shares advanced 3.6 per cent.
Insmed shares jumped 27 per cent after the drugmaker said its experimental drug significantly reduced blood pressure in the lungs and improved exercise capacity in patients in a mid-stage study.
Jif peanut butter maker JM Smucker’s shares were set for their worst day on record after it forecast annual profit below estimates. The company’s shares were last down 12.3 per cent. – Additional reporting: Agencies
