On Wednesday, a decrease was seen in European stocks as market players evaluated a substantial series of company profits. Over in the US, despite Tuesday’s uninspiring results, Tesla headed a rally of large-cap stocks.
On Wednesday in Dublin, the Iseq index dropped more than 1%, underperforming in comparison to other European markets. Ryanair, according to local investors, was the exception among airlines during the trading day, with a decrease of 1.9%, ending at €20.50. This decline was fuelled by Tuesday’s announcement from American counterpart JetBlue about a $716 million loss for the first quarter due to excessive capacity in Latin America and domestic routes. Ires Reit experienced a decrease of a further 2.2%, falling below €1 per share after a sudden increase in the stock.
Meanwhile, Kerry Group’s shares were down more than 1% at €79.45 each, while Smurfit Kappa dropped around 0.9%, ending at €40.03 per share before Friday’s annual general meeting. International Paper, Smurfit’s American competitor and once potential suitor, will be revealing its first-quarter earnings on Thursday.
In London, despite an initial upswing and a successful day for industrial and precious metal miners, the FTSE 100 blue-chip index didn’t exhibit much change over the day, whilst the FTSE 240 index of mid-cap companies fell by 0.5%.
Shares of major mining companies such as Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, and Glencore saw an increase between 1.7% and 3.4% as metal prices rose due to a weaker American dollar. Conversely, Burberry saw a decline of 2.6% after France’s Kering projected a 40 to 45% decline in profits in the first half of the current year. Other fashion brands also took a hit, among them JD Sports, which fell 3%, and Marks & Spencer, which slid close to 2%.
Lloyds Banking saw an initial 1.1% dip after the nation’s top mortgage lender declared a 28% drop in quarterly pretax profits. This was due to increasing expenses, high interest rates, and fierce competition in the mortgage market which negatively affected revenue. However, it managed to recover, gaining 0.8% by the day’s end. Barclays and HSBC both saw a drop of 0.6% while NatWest remained consistent.
European stock markets stumbled due to disappointing results from banking and luxury sectors which overshadowed improvements in technology shares. There was a decline of 0.5% in the Stoxx 600 across Europe, with the premium Stoxx 50 index dropping 0.4%, significantly affected by luxury brands such as Kering.
The parent company of Gucci and Balenciaga witnessed a slump of 6.8% in the session, landing at the bottom of the Stoxx 50 following a disappointing earnings report on Tuesday, indicating a 10% decrease in Q1 sales mainly due to slow demand from China. On the other hand, EssilorLuxottica – the company that owns Ray-Bans, and Hermès remained mostly unchanged in the session, while Louis Vuitton’s parent company LVMH saw a slight increase.
The technology sector performed strongly, growing more than 2%, with ASM International – a Dutch chipmaker, experiencing a boost after exceeding order expectations. Bank stocks brought down the index, with Lloyds of London seeing a drop as their lending income failed to meet estimates. Among the few banks performing well were the Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo and Spain’s Santander, gaining 0.7%.
Over in New York, investor sentiment was buoyed by a late spike in shares of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla on the back of its promise of new models, along with positive earnings announcements from several US firms. By the end of the trading day in Dublin, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 remained mostly flat, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite increased by 79.54 points or 0.51%.
Tesla, despite poor results on Tuesday, led the way in large-cap gains, as CEO Elon Musk committed to introducing more affordable models. Positive forecasts from Texas Instruments also spurred chipmakers.
Investor attention will be on Meta Platforms, due to announce results later on Wednesday, with strong anticipation regarding any indications of returns from its significant investments in artificial intelligence. Additional sources: Reuters, Bloomberg.