Global stocks and commodities experienced a downturn on Tuesday, as investors began to worry over signs that the US economy might begin to unravel following data revealing an unanticipated slump in business activity.
Dublin
The local bourse, Euronext Dublin, ended the day with a 1% decrease, a figure that largely accorded with international equivalents.
A broker noted universal market weaknesses, stating that Ireland was no exception to this trend.
Noteworthy financial establishments, like AIB and Bank of Ireland, saw decreases of 3% and 2% respectively. The decline, according to traders, could be attributed to the predicted cut in interest rates by the European Central Bank slated for later that week.
One commentator noted, “There’s awareness of this. While the banks reaped benefits during ascents, they might suffer during descents.”
In the travel and leisure sectors, Dalata – the nation’s largest hotel operator – saw a slight increase of just over 1%, while Irish Ferries’ parent company, Irish Continental Group, gained 1.5%. However, budget airline Ryanair dipped by 0.3%.
Other market giants, like Kerry Group, maintained their steady position for the day, whereas insulation expert Kingspan dipped by 0.5% at day’s close.
London
The FTSE 100 saw a 0.37% decrease due to plummeting oil and metal prices.
While the stocks managed to limit their losses earlier in the afternoon, they declined again before market close in response to weak US employment figures.
Standard Chartered ended the day with substantial losses due to new accusations sourced from fresh US court documents alleging the bank’s facilitation of multi-billion dollar transactions for Iran and terrorist organisations.
Whistleblowers are striving to reopen a case against Standard Chartered, armed with what they claim is new proof demonstrating the bank’s breach of US and international sanctions on Iran.
The bank, which targets its operations towards Asian markets, maintains that the allegations are baseless and built on false claims. Despite this, its shares fell by 5.31% to 735.2p as a consequence.
Likewise, British American Tobacco found itself in the negative after the tobacco behemoth cautioned that the diminution of cigarette sales in the US coupled with the increase in illicit disposable vapes could hamper its fiscal performance this year.
In a show of gradual economic revival, the manufacturers of Lucky Strike and Dunhill have conveyed that though the fiscal climate is improving, American buyers continue to feel the pinch. The company’s shares experienced a slight dip of 0.53% concluding at 2,422p.
Over in Europe, a sharp drop in the potential of oil heavyweights caused a downturn in the stocks. The Stoxx Europe 600 index experienced a 0.5% fall majorly influenced by drops in energy, mining, and banking sectors. Among individual players, Deutsche Telekom AG saw a decline as Germany offloaded a stake in the company worth €2.5 billion.
Oil giants like BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies saw decline in their shares as oil continued a downward trend reaching its lowest in nearly four months. Plans put forth by Opec+ to reintroduce barrels into the market sooner than projected raised apprehensions of excess supply.
In Germany, the Dax index suffered a 1.02% decrease at its closing, while France’s Cac 40 index dipped 0.75%.
In the US, stock indexes saw a slight downward shift due to increased concerns over a weakening economy brought upon by labour market data. A sell-off of highly sought-after Wall Street stocks contributed to the downfall.
Huge stakeholders such as Amazon.com, Meta, and Microsoft were major contributors to the S&P 500’s decline, with their shares falling between 0.1% to 0.6%. The semiconductor stocks were down 1.4%.
Oil corporations Exxon Mobil and Chevron witnessed drops of 2.3% and 1.5%, respectively, as uncertainties regarding demand put pressure on crude prices, leading to a 1.5% fall in energy stocks in the S&P 500 sectors.
Small-cap stocks, typically more vulnerable to economic predictions, fell 1.2%, while the interest-rate sensitive property sector saw an increase of 0.9%.
Additionally, Bath & Body Works saw a massive 14% decline after the company lowered its quarterly profit predictions.