On Thursday, Europe’s main share index experienced ascent, led by healthcare and retail stocks, as the prospect of global interest rate reductions was welcomed by investors, who also examined a plethora of global economic data.
Despite lack of urgency on interest rate cuts indicated in the European Central Bank’s meeting minutes from July, potential fresh deliberation is expected in September due to anxiety over economic growth.
In the meantime, attention turns to the forthcoming economic symposium in Jackson Hole, US, where Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, is slated to speak on Friday.
In Dublin, the Iseq index decreased by 0.3%, despite an equal gain in the previous session. Kingspan’s 2.9% drop put a significant dent, leading to the building materials group’s closing at €78.05. Other vital Dublin stocks saw minor advances or remained quite static, such as Ryanair, which concluded at €14.86. AIB saw a 1% increment, closing at €5.30, while Bank of Ireland increased marginally by 0.1% to €10.20. Glenveagh Properties saw an uplift of 5.1%, reaching almost €1.44.
The FTSE 100, UK’s leading index, exhibited little change on Thursday, with the superior FTSE 100 rising by 0.1% and the mid-cap FTSE 250 index sliding by 0.4%. Industrial metal mining companies experienced the most sector declines with a 1.5 percentage slip, closely behind were precious metal mining companies with a 1.1 percentage drop.
The valuations of both copper and gold dipped as the dollar strengthened, causing significant declines for Glencore, Anglo American and Hochschild between 1.8% and 2.7%.
JD Sports Fashion saw a 10.7% rise subsequent to reporting a 2.4% surge in underlying sales for the second quarter.
Shares for Hays recruitment firm increased by 2.5% after year-end profits aligned with analyst predictions and the company indicated further cost-saving measures. Ithaca Energy saw a slide of 5.5% following a reduced net profit in the first half of the year.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.4% higher, marking the second consecutive day of advances and achieving the highest closing figure for the month.
Siegfried Holding, the Swiss pharmaceutical corporation, saw a 7% increase, revelled by stronger than anticipated first-half results. Similarly, French biotech stocks Biomerieux surged nearly 6% following a “buy” initiation by UBS analysts. Novo Nordisk, Europe’s largest company by market capitalisation, contributed to a record high in the healthcare sector thanks to a 2.4% surge. After reaching settlements related to its Postbank acquisition lawsuits, Deutsche Bank saw a 4% boost. Swiss Re, a reinsurance business, received a 4.5% surge post-results while German ticketing consortium, CTS Eventim, jumped 6% on announcing an incremented full-year earnings projection. Following disappointing second-quarter results, GN Store Nord, a Danish firm for hearing aid and audio solutions, faced a 9% slump.
US indices on Wall Street plunged during early fluctuating trading, as heightened Treasury yields pressured equities, preceding Mr Powell’s keynote address at Jackson Hole. Concurrently, recent statistics showed a minor increase in fresh US unemployment benefit claims last week. Another analysis established a deceleration of US business activity this month. A majority of growth shares and mega-cap stocks dipped, with Tesla leading the slump with a drop of 3.2%. Forecasts for full-year product earnings were augmented by data cloud analytics business, Snowflake, yet its shares dwindled 13.7% — analysts pinned the decrease to the lack of a rise in margin outlook accompanying the growth in revenue forecasts. Zoom Video Communications noticed a 12.2% gain post-forecast hike in annual revenue; however, Advance Auto Parts experienced a 16.5% fall post the trimming of its annual profit outlook. Reuters provided additional reportage.