Monday saw a global market rally as the United States and China reached a deal to reduce tariffs, easing investor fears about an all-out trade war disrupting global markets.
Dublin
The Iseq All Share Index closed up 2 per cent at 11,101.02. Banking made sharp gains with AIB finishing with a 5 per cent jump to €6.56 and Bank of Ireland not far off at 4.5 per cent, reaching €11.50. Permanent TSB was up 2.35 per cent at €1.74.
The housing and property markets, however, did not fare well. Glenveagh fell 0.36 per cent to close at €1.642, while Cairn Homes also dropped 1.21 per cent to close at €2.045. Those results came after investment firm Elkstone warned that regulatory uncertainty was frustrating investment in Ireland’s undersupplied housing sector.
Ires Reit was down 0.38 per cent to €1.062, although building materials supplier Kingspan made gains, finishing at €80.70, up 4.40 per cent.
Hostelworld climbed 6.67 per cent to €1.60 and Glanbia also climbed 2.52 per cent to finish at €11.80.
London
British stocks ended higher with both the blue-chip FTSE 100 and the domestically focused midcap index gaining 0.6 per cent.
Industrial metal miners led the sectoral gains with 4.9 per cent rise tracking gains in base metal prices. Glencore and Anglo American gained 6.1 per cent and 5.5 per cent, respectively.
Ukraine-focused miner Ferrexpo jumped 8.2 per cent, after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed readiness to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday for talks.
Energy stocks gained 1.6 per cent after oil prices jumped by about 4 per cent.
Heavyweight Shell and BP were among the top gainers in the FTSE 100, up 1.4 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.
Burberry Group and Watches of Switzerland Group gained 3.7 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively, tracking gains in European luxury peers.
Meanwhile, precious metal miners stocks fell 5.5 per cent after safe-haven gold fell more than 2 per cent.
Europe
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 1.2 per cent higher, while regional bourses including ones in Germany and the UK were up.
Sportswear makers Puma and Adidas closed 6.5 per cent and 3.8 per cent higher, while logistics companies Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd advanced 11.2 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively.
Basic metal miners were the top gainers, up 5 per cent after the deal buoyed prices of industrial metals.
Most healthcare heavyweights such as Roche Holding, Sanofi and AstraZeneca had dipped earlier in the day, after US president Donald Trump planned to sign an executive order to cut prescription drug prices to the level paid by other high-income countries.
However, they reversed losses, with the sector index ending 0.5 per cent higher.
Shares in Novo Nordisk fell marginally after US competitor Eli Lilly said its drug Zepbound was found to be superior to Novo’s Wegovy across five weight-loss targets in a head-to-head trial.
UniCredit rose 4.2 per cent as Italy’s second-biggest bank strengthened its 2025 outlook after posting a surprise increase in first-quarter profit.
New York
The S&P 500 hit its highest since early March following the crucial US-China agreement.
“The reduction in fears is a positive catalyst in the short term, but that doesn’t necessarily say much about the economy or the market a week from now or a month from now,” said Patrick Kaser, a portfolio manager at Brandywine Global.
By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 922.95 points, or 2.24 per cent, to 42,172.33; the S&P 500 gained 142.83 points, or 2.5 per cent; and the Nasdaq Composite gained 618.07 points, or 3.45 per cent.
Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were set for their biggest single-day jumps since April 9th.
Megacap and tech stocks led gains, with Nvidia rising 4.4 per cent and Tesla adding 7.2 per cent. An index of semiconductor stocks also leapt 6.2 per cent to an over two-month high.
Apple advanced 5.2 per cent after a report said the company was considering raising the prices of its fall iPhone line-up.
Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, the CBOE Volatility Index, retreated to 19.4 on Monday – a level last observed before the tariff turmoil in April.
Nine of the 11 S&P sub-sectors traded higher, though utilities lagged with a 0.8 per cent fall.
NRG Energy jumped 23.7 per cent after the utility said it would acquire power generation assets from energy infrastructure investment firm LS Power in a deal valued at $12 billion.
