On Thursday, European equities experienced a slight fall from their all-time highs influenced by various factors, including companies’ results, that impacted investors’ decisions, who have recently put significant stakes on interest rate reductions.
In Dublin, there was an uptick observed in the Iseq index, influenced by several stocks’ movements. Following a block’s sale, shares in Permanent TSB augmented by 5.33% to reach €1.58, reducing the bank’s stocks pressure, reported some dealers. Glenveagh, the housebuilder, experienced a similar trend, with its shares increasing by 4.12% to €1.364. Food group Kerry’s shares increased by 1%, ending at €79.05. Dealers observed that heavy selling had impacted this stock recently. Ryanair shares dropped slightly by 0.88% to €18.57, with dealers suggesting investors might focus on this major European airline as it planned to release full annual financial results on Monday, amidst a divided industry sentiment. Meanwhile, Origin Enterprises’ stock fell 4.63% to €2.99 due to its imminent exclusion from the MSCI small cap index.
In London, however, turbulence hit EasyJet shares, as they dropped by 6% to 497.7 pence after the firm announced quarterly results and CEO Johan Lundgren revealed his plan to resign in 2025. Investors perceived that the statement of an expected ‘slight increase’ in summer yields compared to last year signified weaker-than-anticipated air fares. Kenton Jarvis, the CFO, is set to replace Mr Lundgren. Mining company Rio Tinto experienced a significant rise of 2.3% to 5,649p, backed by robust commodities demand. BT shares saw a whopping increase of 17.2% to 132.6p following the telecommunications group’s plans to reduce costs by £3 billion.
Across Europe, markets experienced a downward trend, largely due to the German engineering giant Siemens’ disappointing second-quarter industrial profit results. Siemens’ stock dropped 6.8% to €175, being the most significant drag on the STOXX 600, following a 2% drop in second-quarter industrial profits due to a slowdown at its primary industrial automation division. The automotive sector experienced the most significant impact, with a 1% decline in morning dealings. This was largely due to minor players, including BMW and Daimler Truck, losing value as they traded ex-dividend.
In a surprising move, Umicore, a Belgian materials technology and recycling company, suffered a 4.5 per cent decrease to €20.02 following the announcement of Bart Sap as its new CEO. Meanwhile, Sweco, a Swedish engineering and architecture consultancy firm, witnessed a 15 per cent surge to 139.8 kroner following its first-quarter core earnings surpassing predictions.
In the US, Thursday marked the first occasion of the Dow crossing the 40,000 level, achieving a new all-time record and leading the gains on Wall Street. This came a day after lukewarm inflation data spurred hope for cuts in interest rates. The blue-chip index has nearly recouped almost 40 per cent from its lows in October 2022, thanks to impressive quarterly results and rising expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, which is the central bank in the US.
All three major indexes achieved record closes in the session prior, with a lower-than-anticipated rise in consumer inflation stimulating optimism that inflation was relaxing following three months of heightened figures. Consumer staples led sector advances with a 1.6 per cent gain, primarily owing to Walmart’s 5.8 per cent increase, following the retail behemoth’s uplifted sales and profit prediction for the fiscal year 2025, banking on declining inflation to increase demand for essentials.
Contrarily, Deere’s shares fell by 3.2 per cent after the agricultural equipment manufacturer reduced its annual profit projections for the second time. US-listed shares of Chubb witnessed a 3.6 per cent increase following the reveal of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquiring a stake worth $6.7 billion in the insurance company. This information comes according to additional reports from Reuters.