Global equity markets plummeted on Tuesday amid lingering geopolitical concerns and in anticipation of upcoming earnings reports from major US tech companies later this week.
Euronext Dublin, in particular, saw a less than stellar performance compared to many of its international counterparts, as it closed the day with a decrease of 80 basis points.
The beverage conglomerate, C&C, also experienced a decline of approximately 4%, even after the company reassured it was on target to reach an annual operating profit of approximately €80 million, following a pretax profit of more than €40 million in the first half ending in August. Some traders found the figures unimpressive, sparking seller activity and a sentiment that the results should’ve been stronger.
In similar news, PTSB suffered a 3% decrease after conveying plans to revisit potential cost-cutting measures to safeguard and augment profitability amid a faster than anticipated drop in interest rates.
Dalata, the largest hotel chain operator in Ireland, however, remained steady. Market commentators labelled this as a positive outcome given the broad market downturn and a considerable volume of trading its shares witnessed.
Elsewhere, Origin Enterprises, an agricultural services provider, experienced a dip of around 4%. Shares in Grafton Group, the owner of Woodies DIY, also shrunk by 1.8% due to mostly sectoral shifts.
As for London, the FTSE 100 ended the trading session with a 0.8% fall mainly due to the poor performance of oil behemoth BP, which fell 5% after it revealed a nearly one-third drop in profits in the latest quarter due to declining refining margins. This news somewhat negated the positive effects from good performances by other London-based giants, HSBC and Pearson.
HSBC achieved robust gains upon disclosing an almost 10% increase in profits. This coincided with a statement from management about a planned reduction in senior banker positions to curtail expenses, as part of a significant restructuring plan announced recently. HSBC shares ended the day up by 3.1%.
Pearson, an educational publication firm, also saw a notable surge in its share price due to the company’s ongoing shift towards artificial intelligence. The quarterly report indicated a 4% growth in underlying revenues and led to a 4.3% increase in its shares.
In Europe, other main markets finished low. Even though German sportswear brand Adidas received a boost following a settlement linked to its now-defunct collaboration with Kanye West, the German Dax ended in the red. BP, Novartis and Santander’s disappointing quarterly results pushed the pan-European Stoxx 600 index down by 0.6%. The poor performance of Novartis, down by 4%, came despite the company’s third increase in its 2024 earnings guidance. Concerns about its less than anticipated radiopharmaceutical sales affected the stock.
The travel and leisure sector took a major hit, with the Lufthansa’s shares plunging by 5% in the wake of underperforming third-quarter operating profit.
In New York, Wall Street witnessed mixed outcomes. Alphabet’s (Google’s parent company) shares rose by 1.2% as investors awaited the corporate earnings results for the day. Nvidia reported a 0.5% rise; Apple remained steady while Tesla’s shares reduced by 1.5%.
VF Corp, owner of Vans, spiked by 24.5% as the company posted profits for the first time in two quarters. Ford’s shares dipped by over 8% as the company announced on Monday that it anticipates achieving only the bottom range of its annual profit projection for the year.