Following the sell-off of US shares on Friday, investors’ appetite for risk seemed to rejuvenate as tensions in the Middle East appeared to calm. In conjunction with announcements of substantial corporate results set to arrive later in the week, this resulted in a recovery. Simultaneously, the primary index in the UK posted a record high.
In Europe, the mining industry was given a lift by a surge in tin and nickel prices. Positive indications from an African oilfield also stimulated significant growth for Portugal’s Galp Energia.
In comparison, Dublin’s Iseq Overall Index grew marginally, up by only 0.3%; a factor that was described as the result of a ‘slow news day for Irish stocks’ by the city’s traders. Notable growth was seen in food enterprises such as Kerry Group and Glanbia. They added 1.8%, bringing the share price to €80.80, and 0.8% reaching €17.84 per share respectively. This was part of a broader sectoral trend.
Ryanair, however, noticeably lagged compared to its competitors, including EasyJet, gaining nearly 0.2% to bring the share price to €20.46.
Insulation behemoth Kingspan noted a slight increase of more than 0.1% in advance of Friday’s trade update, closing the day’s session at €81.45. Relative silence was seen in the names of Irish banks with minimal increases or reductions.
In London, the staple-laden FTSE 100 index rose by 1.7% fuelled robustly by the upswing in tin and nickel prices, thus achieving an unprecedented high. Meanwhile, the mid-cap FTSE 250 reciprocally added 1%.
The construction sector posted significant gains, led by Tyman which soared by 29% on the news of a €790m ($976 million) acquisition deal by Quanex Building Products.
The mining sector of precious metals was the sole one to register a decline, influenced by a slump in gold prices amid de-escalation of tensions by Iran. Mining companies such as Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Anglo American, and Endeavour Mining all experienced a decrease ranging between 0.8 per cent to 2.7 per cent within their stock values.
Jefferies’ decision to lift its rating of Marks & Spencer to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ led to a near 3 per cent surge in the retailer’s shares.
EUROPE
The Stoxx 50 index of European blue-chip companies showed a 0.6 per cent increment, and the broader European Stoxx 600 index rose by 0.4 per cent.
Galp Energia’s announcement about a potential oilfield off Namibia with a possible 10 billion barrels of oil made Portugal’s main index the strongest performer amongst European indexes, with a leap of over 3 per cent.
Sentiments around European financial institutions turned positive as investors look forward to several results over the week. Banks in France and Italy, such as BNP Paribas and Intesa Sanpaolo, advanced 1.8 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA and Santander marked increments of 2.2 per cent and 3.4 per cent in their stock values.
At the end of business in Dublin, shares of the French train manufacturer Alstom surged up to 1.5 per cent following an agreement to offload its conventional rail signalling business in North America to Germany’s Knorr-Bremse for approximately €630 million.
NEW YORK
US Stock markets rebounded after last Friday’s selloff, with advances of 0.4-0.7 per cent for primary indices like the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq Composite.
Shares of giants like Alphabet, Amazon, and Apple saw a marginal increase of 0.3 per cent and 0.7 per cent. Nvidia rose by 2.4 per cent, compensating for a 10 per cent downturn in its last session.
However, Tesla witnessed a drop of 4.3 per cent following a price cut in crucial markets, which came post price reductions in the US.
Investors are anticipating the quarterly numbers of Tesla, Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Microsoft this week, which could significantly impact the performance of US stocks.
The cautious optimism was further bolstered by indications of lessening strain in the Middle East. Iran’s foreign minister declared on Friday that an inquiry into the recent attack was underway. However, connections to Israel remained unproven, making him underestimate the impact of the assault. This information was supplemented by reports from Bloomberg and Reuters.