Ongoing tension in the Middle East depressed European shares on Thursday while renewed hopes of a deal later in the day boosted Wall Street.
Dublin
Wind farm investor Greencoat Renewables slipped 4.06 per cent to 73.2 cent.
Greencoat became the first Irish company to list on South Africa’s Johannesburg market when its shares began trading there on Thursday. Dealers also noted that the company went ex-dividend.
News that chief financial officer Donal Galvin is leaving AIB dented the stock, dealers said. The lender’s shares dipped 0.42 per cent to €9.944.
RM Block
Insulation and building materials specialist Kingspan closed 0.51 per cent ahead at €78.10 after reaching a high of €78.70 during the day.
Ryanair shares slipped 2.19 per cent to €25.02 as oil price concerns continued.
Housebuilder Glenveagh Properties rose 1.33 per cent to €2.29. Rival Cairn Homes closed 0.85 per cent down at €2.34.
Bank of Ireland fell close to 1 per cent to €17.295.
London
On the FTSE 100, defence manufacturers ticked higher amid the ongoing Middle East crisis with Babcock International and BAE Systems up 4.1 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively.
BT Group fell 3.5 per cent as the Financial Times reported that the government would oppose any attempt by Bharti Enterprises to increase its stake in BT to above 24.95 per cent, citing a government official.
On the FTSE 250, PPHE Hotel Group soared 22 per cent as Fattal Hotel Group confirmed it has made a bid proposal.
Metro Bank climbed 5.6 per cent as RBC Capital Markets raised its share price target to 195p from 170p seeing the lender as “better shielded from UK political risk”.
“The optimism which has persisted for much of this week about the prospects for a deal between the United States and Iran is being severely tested,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
The FTSE 100 closed down 79.05 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 10,425.96. The FTSE 250 ended down 60.06 points, 0.3 per cent, at 23,324.92, while the AIM All-Share rose slightly to 813.63.
Europe
In European equity markets on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.2 per cent and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt closed down 0.3 per cent.
European shares dropped as US-Iran tensions weighed on sentiment and dimmed hopes for a near-term reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the long-term closure of which could threaten the health of the global economy. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.48 per cent while Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 12.20 points, or 0.49 per cent. Emerging market stocks fell 11.71 points, or 0.67 per cent to 1,727.42.
US
Wall Street traders sent stocks toward all-time highs, bonds rose while a rally in oil waned on speculation the US and Iran are close to a diplomatic breakthrough in the war that has rattled global markets.
“Traders are on a hair trigger with the back and forth on deal news, and have been leaning long to avoid getting trampled by a better-than-expected outcome. The harder part is that the inflationary forces may not abate as fast as markets want,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group.
The S&P 500 healthcare index gained 1.2 per cent. Eli Lilly advanced 4.2 per cent after CVS Health said it would restore the drugmaker’s weight-loss injection Zepbound to its coverage and add its newly approved obesity pill Foundayo.
Tech shares also moved 1.3 per cent higher. Microsoft gained 2.8 per cent after The Information reported the company would release a new coding model next week.
Marvell Technology dipped after first-quarter results. The company’s shares have more than doubled so far this year.
Snowflake soared 36.3 per cent after the data analytics firm lifted its annual product revenue forecast and announced a five-year AI infrastructure deal worth $6 billion (€5 billion) with Amazon Web Services. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Press Association, Reuters
