US and European shares fell on Friday and oil prices gained as markets monitored tense US-Iran talks.
The US threatened to ramp up economic pressure on Iran, including extending a naval blockade.
Brent crude futures rose to $87.68 per barrel, up 0.7 per cent on the day, and US oil prices rose 0.3 per cent to $81.49.
DUBLIN
The Irish market ended the week in the red, declining by almost 0.4 per cent on Friday. The index was dragged lower by weakness in food and construction stocks, while a dip in travel and leisure stocks also weighed.
RM Block
Insulation specialist Kingspan saw its share price dip almost 1.5 per cent on Friday, giving up some of the gains it had made over the week. But it still added 4.5 per cent to its shares. The company announced this week it would pay up to €900 million for BMC Manufacturing Group in Meath, a move that signalled a landmark expansion of its data centre business.
Ryanair, meanwhile, declined 1 per cent on the day, while food group Glanbia fell by almost 1.8 per cent.
AIB and Bank of Ireland both saw their shares rise, with the latter adding 0.4 per cent and AIB gaining almost 0.6 per cent.
LONDON
The blue-chip FTSE 100 dipped 0.2 per cent to 10,750.11 points to register its first weekly decline since early July. The midcap FTSE 250 edged up 0.1 per cent to 24,867.42 points, ending the week largely flat.
Shares of miner Antofagasta dropped almost 4.6 per cent, down sharply for the second consecutive day after its production outlook disappointed on Thursday and copper prices fell after a recent rally.
Among gainers, shares of Sage Group, Experian and RELX climbed 1.4 per cent to 4.4 per cent, respectively, after Reuters reported private equity firm Silver Lake was in talks to acquire US software firm Workday, lifting the sector.
Ladbrokes owner Entain rose 2.1 per cent as it beat first-half profit expectations, while identity technology company GB Group sank nearly 31 per cent, its steepest one-day fall ever, after cutting its annual revenue growth forecast.
EUROPE
The Stoxx 600 ended 0.2 per cent lower at 657.86 and logged a 0.3 per cent drop on a weekly basis.
Still, the euro zone benchmark was within 1 per cent of a record high, having rallied about 3 per cent in the previous four weeks, underpinned by better-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
Healthcare stocks led sectoral declines with a 1.5 per cent drop, with Zealand Pharma down over 5.8 per cent. Defence stocks, on the other hand, gained 1.2 per cent, with Rheinmetall up over 3.2 per cent.
European software companies SAP rose 2.7 per cent, Nemetschek climbed 8.4 per cent and Temenos gained 1.8 per cent.
Maersk added 8.7 per cent and hit its highest in four years, extending strong gains after Thursday’s stronger-than-expected quarterly results and guidance upgrade.
NEW YORK
Tech stocks dragged Wall Street lower on Friday after propelling the S&P 500 to a record high in the previous session.
The S&P 500 information technology index dropped 0.5 per cent, with Broadcom taking the biggest jolt, down 5.5 per cent. Applied Materials fell 5.2 per cent, even after the chip equipment maker forecast fourth-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates.
Data storage companies defied the broader decline, with SanDisk and Western Digital advancing 5.7 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively. Energy stocks on the S&P 500 rose 1.5 per cent, tracking a rise in oil prices. Reddit surged more than 12 per cent after the social media company was named a new addition to the S&P 500 index, effective August 18th.
At 12.14pm ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 122.05 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 53,717.94; the S&P 500 lost 12.71 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 7,786.28; and the Nasdaq Composite lost 101.63 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 26,701.40. – Additional reporting: Reuters
