Thursday saw a relatively quiet day in the markets thanks to US Independence Day celebrations, voting in the UK, and preparation for the French election’s second round.
In Dublin, financial shares saw a rise, particularly among lenders. AIB experienced a growth of 2.5%, taking their share price up to €5.09 just before market close. Meanwhile, the Bank of Ireland had a slightly greater rise of 3.4%, ending at €9.944.
Conversely, house building company, Glenveagh, took a hit of 3.61%, lowering their share value to €1.28. This followed an announcement of reduced six-month revenues dropping to €150 million from €172 million in the same period of 2023. However, the company remained confident of hitting earnings targets regardless.
Airlines also had a turbulent day; Ryanair’s shares fell by 1.3% to €16.385 due to traders deciding to backtrack on the previous day’s gains. However, food groups fared better with Glanbia up by 1.15% to €18.53 and Kerry marginally increasing by 0.26% to €75.90.
In London, as voters went to the polling stations, FTSE 100 performed strongly. Smith & Nephew’s shares got a boost with activist investor Cevian’s revelation of a stake acquisition in the group. This prompted a 6.87% increase to 1,054 pence sterling, reversing a previously declining share pattern since the year’s beginning.
On another positive note, London’s Peel Hunt reported healthy gains on the back of higher revenues than the previous year, pushing their shares up by 3.88% to 134p. Furthermore, Barclays, after agreeing to sell off its German consumer finance branch, saw their shares rise by 2.84% to 224.35p, indicating successful business simplification efforts.
The results of elections in France, Britain and Northern Ireland created a positive effect on European stocks as an anticipation of a potential cut in the Federal Reserve’s interest rates increased, bolstered by supportive US economic data advocating for ease.
Ericsson, a Swedish telecoms equipment manufacturer, experienced a 1.2 per cent decline in its stocks to 65.22 kroner following a $1.09 billion (€1 billion) impairment charge logged in Q2 2024. Meanwhile, Redcare Pharmacy, a pharmaceutical retailer based in Germany, recorded a significant increase in stocks, a 12.8 per cent surge to €129.50, owing to a remarkable 33 per cent upswing in their Q2 preliminary sales.
Pluxee, a French company specialising in vouchers and benefits was not so fortunate, however. Their stocks plummeted by 10 per cent during trading, closing 9.3 per cent down at €25.58. This was due to a lower than anticipated sales yield in Q3 in Europe, which was announced on Wednesday.
The stocks in France saw an advancement for two consecutive days whilst a campaign to thwart the ascendancy of the far-right National Rally (RN) party gained momentum. Conversely, German industrial orders saw an unexpected decline in May, falling 1.6 per cent from the previous month, after adjustments for the season and calendar.
The Stoxx 600, a European regional index, rose by 0.6 per cent, with banks leading the charge. Whilst US equity futures contracts remained static, due to the cash markets closure for Independence Day celebrations, record-highs were set by the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 on Wednesday.
A decrease in US interest rates in September has become more likely due to fragile US economic data. This could impact the economy significantly as it holds the title of the world’s largest.
Other information has been obtained from further reporting by the Press Association and Reuters.