European stocks rose on Tuesday, taking some heart from a series of robust corporate earnings, even as simmering hostilities between the US and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz kept the oil prices elevated.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up at 0.7 per cent at 609.72 points, after posting its biggest drop in a month on Monday.
With Brent crude oil prices holding comfortably above the $110 (€94) a barrel mark as the strait remains choked, high oil prices are weighing heavily on energy-dependent Europe, stoking inflation fears and fuelling expectations of more than two rate hikes by the European Central Bank this year.
Dublin
The Irish market bucked the broader trend, with the Iseq All-Share index declining 1.5 per cent, as heavyweight stocks like Ryanair and the two largest banks fell.
RM Block
Ryanair lost 1.9 per cent to €22 amid high oil prices. AIB lost 1.8 per cent to €9.62, while Bank of Ireland slid 2 per cent to €16.40 as the wider European banking sector ended lower amid a disappointing set of quarterly results from the UK’s HSBC and concerns over the Middle East conflict.
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However, Uniphar added 0.6 per cent to €4.19 as Davy analysts upgraded their forecasts for the group’s earnings per share by 7-8 per cent for this year and next. This has marked the broker’s fourth estimate upgrade for the company since the start of the year.
London
The UK’s FTSE 100 slid 1.4 per cent. HSBC’s shares fell 5.9 per cent after the bank reported an unexpected $400 million (€342 million) loss linked to a fraud case, raising further questions about lenders’ private credit exposure.
Travel-related stocks fell on concerns about higher fuel costs. Cruise operator Carnival and British Airways operator IAG dropped 3.7 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively.
Britain’s Intertek jumped almost 6 per cent after the company said it was reviewing a revised takeover bid from Swedish private equity group EQT AB.
Broadband and mobile provider BT Group climbed 1.7 per cent after Bank of America Global Research upgraded the stock to buy, citing the potential for a higher dividend payout.
Vodafone dipped 2.2 per cent after the telecoms company agreed to buy its partner CK Hutchison’s stake in VodafoneThree for £4.3 billion (€4.98 billion).
Europe
The technology sector advanced 2.4 per cent, leading gains among the significant sectors, with chip stocks including ASML and ASMI among the top boosts, tracking a semiconductor rally on Wall Street.
Anheuser-Busch InBev advanced 9.3 per cent after the Belgian brewer posted quarterly sales and profits well above forecast, while UniCredit added 5.9 per cent after the Italian lender posted its highest quarterly profit on record and raised its full-year forecast.
UniCredit also launched a takeover offer for Commerzbank despite strong German opposition. The euro zone bank sector rose 1.9 per cent.
“Corporate earnings have been relatively supportive ... if companies are still making money, then that’s going to keep the mood buoyant,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates said it was under attack from Iranian missiles and drones, even as Washington said a shaky ceasefire was intact despite an exchange of fire the previous day as US forces attempted to force open the Strait of Hormuz.
Among other movers, Rheinmetall was up 3.4 per cent. The German defence group’s preliminary results showed quarterly revenue below analyst expectations.
New York
Wall Street’s main indexes were in recovery mode in early afternoon trading after losses on Monday.
Intel soared after Bloomberg News reported Apple had held exploratory discussions about using Intel and Samsung Electronics to produce the main processors for its devices.
Grain trader Archer-Daniels-Midland rose after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter profit on higher margins.
DuPont gained after the industrial materials maker lifted its annual profit forecast.
Shares of Pinterest jumped after the image-sharing platform forecast second-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates. – Additional reporting: Reuters
