Following remarks by Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, indicating a likely reduction in US interest rates this year, stocks experienced an increase last Thursday.
However, leading shares in Dublin slid, indicating a lagging Irish market in comparison with European counterparts, according to dealers. Despite the general trend, Permanent TSB, a lending company, saw a significant 7.53% boost in its shares to €1.50, which traders attributed to a late surge for the bank’s stocks; yet, they advised that the trading volumes weren’t large.
Meanwhile, Kerry, a group specialising in convenience foods and ingredients, fell by 2.07% to €77.95. Dealers didn’t regard the decline as significant, however, they remarked that the sector wasn’t widely favoured at the time. Similarly, insulation expert Kingspan saw a decrease of 1.52% to €84.05, and Ryanair’s shares fell slightly by 0.43% to €20.98.
On the other hand, in London, British shares saw a marginal increase as investors anxiously awaited key economic and fiscal data, including the purchasing managers’ indices of Europe and the UK. Glencore, a mining and industrial metals group, rose by 1.15% to 463.55p due to a 1.6% increase in copper’s price.
Due to signals of an improving Chinese economy, considerable interest was noted in commodities, largely metals. This is because China places great emphasis on manufacturing. Such positive news sparked a surge in Anglo American’s stocks, which increased by 3.05% to 2,110.5p, while Antofagasta’s shares grew by 4.67% to 2,198.
Cab Payments, in other news, ended with a 7.6% increase at 119p after being granted a payment service provider license in the Netherlands, causing its shares to rise nearly 12% in early trade. Moreover, InterContinental Hotels dropped 1.9% to 7,954p due to its shares trading ex-dividend. Packaging manufacturer Mondi, an Irish-listed rival to Smurfit Kappa, also faced a 3.4% decrease to 1,420p.
Stocks of Volvo Cars, the Swedish automotive manufacturer, soared by 6.7%, reaching 41.59 kroner. This stock surge followed the company’s announcement of a record-breaking sale of 78,970 vehicles in March, up 25% compared to the previous year. The fully electric SUV, EX30, played a significant part in this sales increase.
New data unveiled that the Stoxx 600, an index tracing the shares of 600 companies across 18 different markets, experienced a modest increase of 0.2%, propelled by positive performances in the mining and automotive sectors, whilst the chemical sector slid back.
An optimistic picture was also painted at Wall Street, with the principal stock indexes climbing due to recent financial reports indicating potential monetary policy relaxation. Unemployment support claims escalated to 221,000 for the concluding week of March, compared to an estimated 214,000. This increase fortified projections of the Federal Reserve making up to three interest rate cuts in the current year.
Positive momentum was seen across ten of the 11 major sectors of S&P 500, spearheaded by a 1.2% uptick in the information technology sector, followed by a roughly 1% jump in the real estate sector. Giant growth stocks like Meta Platforms, Amazon, and Nvidia also noted a rise, ranging between 1.2% and 3.1% during initial trading hours.
Gains were also seen in Levi’s stocks, escalating by a whopping 16.8% as the denim manufacturer increased its yearly profit predictions, pointing to savings earned through recent cost reduction strategies and lower discount rates. Information additionally provided by Bloomberg and Reuters.