European stocks surrendered early gains to finish lower on Friday, dragged by energy and financial shares, as investors turned cautious after softer‑than‑expected US payrolls data heightened concerns about cracks in the world’s largest economy.
Dublin
The Iseq All Share Index ended the week in positive territory, gaining half a per cent to finish at 11,306.
AIB shares were down 0.2 per cent to €7.14, while Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB gained by the close of the session, with the former making only minor gains to end the week at €12.92.
Insurer FBD fell 0.34 per cent to close at €14.50.
RM Block
Food group Kerry was 1 per cent higher at the end of the day, while Glanbia was largely flat.
Construction stocks fared better, with insulation specialist gaining more than 2 per cent to finish at €69.40. Home builder Glenveagh rose 1.54 per cent, while Cairn Homes was up almost 0.5 per cent.
Ryanair closed the day at €24.04, a rise of 0.4 per cent, while Irish Continental Group was 0.35 per cent lower by the end of the day.
London
Britain’s FTSE 100 closed lower on Friday, dragged down by energy and bank stocks, while investors assessed domestic and US economic data.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 was 0.1 per cent lower on the day but ended the week marginally higher.
The domestically focused FTSE 250 closed 0.5 per cent higher but logged its second straight weekly decline.
In the market, the home builders’ index rose, led by Berkeley, up 3 per cent after reaffirming its profit forecast for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
Peers Vistry, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Redrow also advanced.
Energy stocks fell 2.4 per cent, with giants Shell and BP down 2.2 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively.
Heavyweight bank stocks fell and top lenders HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds were among the biggest laggards on the benchmark index.
Non-life insurers fell, dragged by Admiral Group’s 2.9 per cent decline, top loser on FTSE 100, after Peel Hunt downgraded the stock to “sell” from “reduce”.
Europe
The pan-European STOXX 600 ended 0.16 per cent lower at 541.21, with the energy index weighing heavily with a 1.8 per cent drop as it mirrored lower oil prices on growing expectations of higher supply.
Regional banks came under pressure, falling 1.3 per cent. Bank shares often fall on rate-cut hopes as lower interest rates compress net interest margins, hitting their profits and squeezing loan demand.
Hexagon jumped about 7.4 per cent after the Swedish industrial technology group agreed to sell its design & engineering business to Cadence for €2.7 billion.
Temenos tanked 16 per cent to the bottom of the benchmark index after the banking software group parted ways with its CEO, Jean-Pierre Brulard.
Orsted gained 2.7 per cent after shareholders voted for a proposed $9.4 billion rights issue.
New York
Wall Street’s main indexes eased from record highs on Friday after concerns about a slowdown in the world’s largest economy outweighed optimism about interest-rate cuts from the US Fed following a weaker-than-expected August jobs report.
Economically sensitive sectors led declines. Banks fell 2.2 per cent, energy shed 1.7 per cent and industrials lost 1 per cent.
The three major US stock indexes had scaled fresh peaks early in the session, but the gains petered out.
At 10.47am in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 347.16 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 45,273.92, the S&P 500 lost 44.49 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 6,457.59, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 128.27 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 21,583.22.
Broadcom surged 9.8 per cent to a record high after the chip designer forecast fourth-quarter revenue above estimates and expected AI revenue growth to “improve significantly” in fiscal-year 2026.
On the other hand, Lululemon Athletica plunged 17.5 per cent to a more than five-year low after the yogawear-maker slashed its annual profit forecast the second time in a row, dragging larger rival Nike down 1.1 per cent.
Tesla rose up 2 per cent after the EV-maker proposed an about $1 trillion compensation package for Elon Musk, subject to meeting lofty performance targets. – Additional reporting: Reuters
