On Tuesday, global equity markets generally recorded gains, with Nvidia, an Ai chip company, seeing a jump in its shares during the early trade in the US.
In Euronext Dublin, the day saw a dramatic positive close outperforming other international peers with a 79 basis points rise, driven mainly by investors’ contributions in Ryanair and AIB. Recently recovering from a challenging period, Ryanair experienced a 2 per cent rise, as observed by a trader, who remarked on the noticeable rebound from the company’s recent slump. AIB also excelled on the day, recording a 1.5 per cent increase as trading closed.
The insulations specialist Kingspan also played a significant role in boosting the index, rising by 1.3 per cent following the end of trading. Another company to note was Irish Continental Group, a ferry firm, which saw a 1.8 per cent rise. However, there weren’t any remarkable movements in the food segment with Kerry Group holding steady and Glanbia experiencing a slight 1 per cent dip at closing.
In London, the FTSE 100 saw a 34 point drop as some industrial and retail stocks experienced a downturn. Among the top ten losers were Burberry, Melrose and Marks & Spencer. Melrose suffered due to a profit warning issued by its key client, Airbus, who indicated that the lack of plane parts had forced them to reduce their deliverables.
Land Securities, a major property company, revealed an expansion of its stake in Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, by successfully negotiating a deal of £120 million (€140 million) resulting in their stake now standing at 66.25 per cent. This followed the acquisition of an additional 17.5 per cent of shares in Bluewater from GIC of Singapore. Subsequent to the news, shares initially rose before closing 0.6 per cent lower.
In Europe, though the pan-European Stoxx 600 index dropped by 0.44 per cent, MSCI’s measure of worldwide stocks recorded a 0.13 per cent gain. On the other hand, France’s Cac 40 and Germany’s Dax saw a respective decrease of 0.6 per cent and 0.9 per cent.
As anticipation for political and economic events later this week grew, the difference in the spread between French and German bonds decreased slightly, with Germany’s 10-year yield also experiencing a decline.
Meanwhile, across the pond in New York, the tech-centric Nasdaq index saw a rise of over 1% attributed to the robust performance from Nvidia and other major names, while the Dow experienced a slide as investors held their breath for key US inflation data due later this week to inform future monetary policy. Nvidia shares spiked by 6%, clawing back some of its losses from three consecutive downward sessions. Despite this recovery, the shares are still 12% shy of the previous week’s all-time high.
Technology firms Arm Holdings, Broadcom, and Applied Materials all saw share price increases of 2.4%, contributing to a 1.4% rise in the Philadelphia SE semiconductor index after a recent decline. The continued robust performance from tech and other growth stocks have propelled the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record highs, but a lacklustre performance from the Dow has stoked concerns about the endurance of this equity strength.
At midday in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped by 0.74%. In contrast, the S&P 500 rose by 0.32% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed by 1.21%.
In the aviation sector, Spirit AeroSystems shares dipped by 5.3%. This followed a report suggesting Boeing is considering buying out the aeroplane fuselage manufacturer, looking to fund the deal largely through stock, which would value the key supplier at around $35 a share. Following this news, Boeing saw a fall of 3%.
Cruise company Carnival Corp’s shares, however, ascended by 7.4% after a raised annual profit forecast, marking the second occasion this year the company has updated its earnings prediction.