Europe’s principal equity index posted a groundbreaking high on Friday, poised for the most significant weekly ascension since the end of January, due to increased financial speculation on cuts in interest rates within the region and a robust earnings period.
In Ireland, the Iseq rounded off the week with a favourable outcome, giving a rise of 0.4 per cent. This success was attributed to a 1.1 per cent surge in Ryanair, making it the most engaged stock on that day, ending at a value of €18.96. On the other hand, it wasn’t all good news, with some key stocks experiencing mixed results. Packaging corporation Smurfit Kappa held steady at €43.75, while insulation producer Kingspan saw a decline of 1.5 per cent, falling to €89.15. Food company Kerry noticed a slight uptick of 0.6 per cent to €80.00, and banks also saw an increase: AIB was 2 per cent higher at €4.99, and Bank of Ireland saw a small increase of 0.3 per cent to €9.85.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 attained an unparalleled peak for the fifth consecutive day on Friday. Investors were motivated by the Bank of England’s soothing perspective and the better-than-anticipated growth of the British economy in the year’s first quarter. Both the FTSE 100 and the mid-cap FTSE 250 scaled new heights, with the latter reaching its highest point in over two years, each climbing by 0.6 per cent and recording a third week of continuous gain. The UK economy saw a surge of 0.6 per cent in the first quarter, marking an exit from recession and the most substantial growth in approximately three years.
Industrial metal miners recorded the highest sector gain of 1.4 per cent. This was attributed to Anglo American’s 1.4 per cent climb following reports from the Australian Financial Review that Rio Tinto had considered a proposal for the mining corporation. The British Government’s conditional approval of the proposed amalgamation between Vodafone’s UK operation and Hutchison’s Three UK saw a rise of 1.9 per cent for Vodafone Group.
The cross-European STOXX 600 index saw an increase by 0.7% and achieved record highs in dominant economies such as France and Germany. Despite a brief pause in April, the European shares rally returned to its record-breaking performance, achieving a 3% weekly increase.
After reporting an unexpectedly high net profit for the first quarter, Enel, an Italian utility company, soared 3.8% while Portugal’s leading utility firm EDP rose 3.9%.
Retail sector surges of 1.5% were driven by Zalando, which recorded a 3.3% increase following Berenberg analysts’ promotion of the German online retailer from “hold” to “buy”. In relation to M&A movements, BBVA and Sabadell shares grew by 1.3% and 0.5% respectively as investors evaluated the first aggressive banking takeover bid in Spain since the 1980s.
Elsewhere, Sanofi experienced a 1.3% bump after striking an agreement with Novavax over the French drugmaker’s Covid vaccine. As part of the deal, Novavax’ market capitalisation doubled with its value more than doubling in the US.
On the contrary, US FDA’s safety alarm regarding two of Getinge’s heart equipment sent the Swedish medical equipment manufacturer’s shares down 8.8%.
In the US, whilst awaiting crucial inflation metrics that could impact the Federal Reserve’s rate reduction timeline, Wall Street shares experienced a mixed response on Friday but seemed poised for weekly advances.
Big-name stocks like Tesla, Alphabet and Apple took a hit while the US Treasury yield surged. Nvidia went up by 0.8% after reporting an almost 60% sales increase in April thanks to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the biggest chipmaker globally and a key Nvidia supplier.
Lastly, SoundHound AI’s shares rocketed 11% post exceeding market predictions with its first-quarter revenue.
Extra information collected from Reuters.