Stocks moved higher on Friday, fuelled by cautious optimism ahead of US-Iran weekend talks that outweighed worries about a fragile ceasefire.
But oil prices still edged higher as the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed to shipping and concerns persisted over supplies from Saudi Arabia.
Dublin
The upbeat attitude seeped into the Irish market on Friday. The Euronext Dublin rose over the day, gaining 0.8 per cent on the final trading day of the week to end at 12,757.
Banking shares bounced back, with AIB and Permanent TSB both gaining 1 per cent and Bank of Ireland up 0.2 per cent. Insurer FBD gained 2.1 per cent.
RM Block
Index heavyweights Kerry Group and Glanbia both recorded gains, adding 2 per cent and 0.35 per cent respectively.
Insulation specialist Kingspan saw its stock climb more than 2 per cent to end the week up 6 per cent.
Home builders Glenveagh and Cairn both added 1 per cent by the end of the session, while Ryanair gained 0.7 per cent, notching up a near 7 per cent gain for the week.
London
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended flat at 10,600.5 points on the day, clocking its third straight weekly gain. The midcap FTSE 250 climbed 0.7 per cent, recording its second consecutive week of gains.
AO World gained 7 per cent after the British electronics retailer said it expected annual profit at the top end of its forecast range, after gaining market share across all key categories in its consumer-focused business.
B&M’s shares fell 4.6 per cent as interim CFO Helen Cowing left the British discount retailer after less than five months in the job, the company said.
Defence contractor BAE Systems shed 3.3 per cent, while airline Wizz Air surged 7.2 per cent after a Bloomberg report said Ukraine’s top negotiator with Russia saw progress towards a potential peace deal with Russia.
Europe
European equities edged higher on Friday, notching up a third straight week of gains.
The pan-European index Stoxx 600 ended 0.4 per cent higher at 614.84 points. The index is up 3 per cent for the week.
Most bourses also gained, with France’s CAC 40 and Spain’s IBEX 35 adding 0.2 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.
European shares logged their strongest one-day rise in more than four years on Wednesday on news of a US-Iran ceasefire, helping the Stoxx 600 claw back some of the losses incurred since hostilities began on February 28th.
Investors will closely monitor the talks, especially efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy supplies. Europe’s airport industry has warned that the Continent could face a systemic jet fuel shortage within three weeks if it remains closed.
Stoxx 600 companies are expected to report growth of 4.2 per cent in first-quarter earnings, according to LSEG data, slightly higher than the 4 per cent rise estimated last week.
Meanwhile, the aerospace and defence index fell 2.2 per cent.
Germany’s Rheinmetall and Hensoldt and Italy’s Leonardo fell more than 5 per cent and CSG was off by 8 per cent.
Construction stocks gained with Buzzi, Holcim and Heidelberg Materials up between 3 per cent and 5.6 per cent. Financials and tech shares boosted the index, with gains of 1.3 per cent each.
New York
Wall Street traders bracing for talks between the US and Iran left stocks wavering as oil climbed, with the negotiations set to dictate the path ahead for a fragile ceasefire.
An advance in equities faded as the New York Post reported President Donald Trump is preparing the military if peace talks in Pakistan this weekend fail. US crude climbed to around $99.
Trump has warned Iran that it “better stop” any effort to charge fees on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, after agreeing to open the critical waterway as part of a ceasefire agreement earlier this week.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 was little changed as of 12.12pm New York time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5 per cent and the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2 per cent. – Additional reporting – Reuters, Bloomberg
