Business

Traders hold fire ahead of Powell speech, French vote

UK’s FTSE 100 slips amid weak services data

Traders were focused on what US Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell may say about the path of future interest rates. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Traders were focused on what US Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell may say about the path of future interest rates. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Fiona Keeley
Wed Dec 04 2024 - 18:43

World markets were steady on Wednesday, as traders appeared to wait for the outcome of a no-confidence vote in the French government, and upcoming comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell, who was set to speak ahead of a possible rate cut later this month.

Dublin

In Dublin, the Iseq Overall index increased by 0.32 per cent on Wednesday with Cairn Homes coming in as the stand out performer. The hombuilder jumped 3.28 per cent on Wednesday rising to €2.20 a share. Glenveagh Properties rose by 0.76 per cent to €1.59. Food supplier Kerry Group increased by 1.61 per cent to €91.45 and Glanbia fell by 3.42 per cent to €14.10. Kingspan was up by 0.91 per cent to €72.45 a share. Dalata Hotels was up by 2.47 per cent to €4.56.

From a banking perspective, AIB fell by 0.75 per cent to €5.26, Bank of Ireland dropped by 0.43 to €8.41 and Permanent TSB increased by 1 per cent to €1.51 a share.

London

In London, the FTSE 100 Index fell 0.28 per cent, trailing the wider European market after latest data suggested the UK’s services firms were knocked by the fallout from the British goverment’s budget last month.

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S&P Global’s PMI survey, closely watched by economists, showed growth in the UK’s services sector slowed to its lowest rate for more than a year in November.

Legal & General climbed 6 per cent after the life insurer said it was planning to return capital to shareholders and was on track to meet its financial targets.

AstraZeneca slipped 2.8 per cent to the bottom of the blue-chip index after HSBC analysts cut its target price to 13,720p from 14,070p and the drugmaker named Iskra Reic as its new international executive vice-president.

Shares of copper miners such as Glencore and Anglo American declined 1 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively, as the metal’s price eased against a firm dollar.

Europe

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.4 per cent by the close, with retail stocks leading the gains. Spanish retailer Inditex, the owner of Zara, jumped to a record high ahead of earnings and Zalando traded at its highest level in a year and a half. The healthcare sector lagged as Novartis shares fell following a downgrade by HSBC.

In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.7 per cent even as Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally, said her party will vote for the left coalition’s no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government during the parliamentary debate ahead of the vote.

Germany’s DAX advanced 1.1 per cent after breaching the 20,000-point level in the previous session, with one of its big components, software maker SAP, advancing.

New York

Wall Street’s main indexes climbed on Wednesday. By lunchtime in New York, the S&P 500 rose 0.24 per cent and the Nasdaq added 0.97 per cent. Both indices touched record highs driven by gains in technology stocks, while investors awaited Powell’s comments.

Crucial jobs data is due on Friday and investors are shoring up bets on a third consecutive interest-rate cut at the central bank’s December 17th-18th meeting.

Salesforce provided the biggest boost to the blue-chip Dow on the day, jumping 8.8 per cent to an all-time high after the enterprise cloud company beat estimates for third-quarter revenue and raised the lower end of its annual revenue forecast.

Other cloud companies also jumped, with ServiceNow and Datadog adding 5.6 per cent each.

Information Technology stocks hit a record high, buoyed by gains in megacaps such as Microsoft and Nvidia.

Marvell Technology advanced 21.6 per cent to a record high after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter revenue above analyst estimates, while the broader Semiconductor index rose 1.6 per cent.

US private payrolls showed a modest increase in November, while annual wages for workers staying in their jobs edged higher for the first time in 25 months. Additional reporting: agencies

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