On Monday, European stocks experienced a downswing, largely due to disappointing updates from high-profile fashion companies, causing instability in the sector. The situation wasn’t helped by the fragile sentiment caused by a recent assassination attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
With Trump in charge, market predictions lean towards a belligerent trade policy and a decrease in regulations concerning everything from energy policy to digital currency.
DUBLIN
The index of Irish stocks ended Monday on a slightly lower note, dipping by 0.29% to 9740. It wasn’t all bleak though, as banking shares showed a small increase. AIB increased by 1.46% and Bank of Ireland saw a slightly modest gain of 0.25% over the day. Permanent TSB stocks experienced close to a 5% rise, hitting the €1.40 mark. Insurer FBD also saw a 1.57% increase during the day.
On the other hand, food stocks from Kerry and Glanbia shifted to a low, losing 1.7% and 1.3% respectively. Fellow Irish company, Ryanair, finished the day lower at €17.06, a small decrease of almost 0.4%.
Kingspan, an insulation specialist company, suffered a loss of 0.81% to end at €85.85.
LONDON
The FTSE 100, Britain’s leading stock index, closed Monday on a low, due to fading commodity prices and political confusion in the United States, with Burberry shares taking a plunge to a 14-year nadir.
The FTSE 100 index took a hit of 0.85%, while the FTSE 250 mid-cap index had a marginal dip of 0.1%. Both indexes reversed a three-session upswing.
Burberry shares tumbled 16% following the appointment of former Michael Kors leader Joshua Schulman as CEO (replacing Jonathan Akeroyd), and an accompanying profit warning. Industrial metal miners’ stocks slid by 1.5% as lessened copper prices reflected weak demand prospects in China, who is witnessing sluggish economic growth, feeble lending numbers and a build-up of inventories.
EUROPE
The STOXX 600, a pan-European share index, ended 1% down, breaking a three-day rally.
Swatch Group, the foremost watchmaker globally, dropped 9.8% after a stark decline in first-half sales and profits was reported.
The overall performance of the top 10 European luxury stocks dipped nearly 3%, with the personal and household goods sector leading the losses in the major STOXX 600 sectors, showing a 2.1% decrease.
Shares in European renewable energy firms including Orsted, RWE, Nordex, Vestas and Siemens Energy fell between 3.4% and 6.4%, with market analysts putting down the dip to a possible victory for Donald Trump in the US elections. Additionally, Nordea’s shares took a hit of 3.8%, subsequent to the Finnish bank’s second-quarter operational earnings falling short of forecasts.
Trading for digital mapping experts TomTom saw a decrease of 8.4% as it hit the pause button on its revenue goals for 2025 and adjusted downwards its projections for the current year. This is due to weak demand for new vehicles impacting its automotive location technology sector.
Over on Wall Street, an upbeat Monday trading session was triggered by optimism around a potential second term for Trump following an assassination attempt’s failure. The market was also buoyed by hopes of a cut in interest rates. As a consequence, stocks linked to Trump surged. Highlights included Trump Media & Technology Group’s shares jumping 26.8% and software company Phunware and video-sharing site Rumble experiencing rises of 4.6% and 5.4% respectively.
Cryptocurrency shares were also on the upswing as bitcoin hit a two-week high, leading to Coinbase Global, Marathon Digital Holdings and Riot Platforms’ shares increasing anywhere from 8.9% to 10.9%. Additionally, stocks poised to profit from a potential second Trump presidency, such as gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson and prison operator GEO Group, saw gains of 11.9% and 10.5% respectively.
At 12.01am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen by 328.71 points (0.82%) to 40,329.61; the S&P 500 was up by 40.53 points (0.72%) at 5,655.88; and the Nasdaq Composite advanced by 163.54 points (0.89%) to 18,561.98. The S&P 500 financials index observed an ascent of 1.5% with Goldman Sachs hitting a fresh record-high after its second-quarter profit more than doubled.
– Reuters contributed to this report.
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