European stocks emerged from their session lows and closed unchanged on Thursday after the European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates by an expected 0.75 of a percentage point and signalled a slower pace of rate hikes going forward.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed flat, while an index of euro zone stocks ended the day down 0.1 per cent. It had shed as much as 1.2 per cent before the ECB’s policy decision.
The bloc’s lenders outperformed with a 0.6 per cent gain after the ECB cut subsidies it provides to banks through cheap loans called targeted longer-term refinancing operations, which analysts said was not as bad as feared.
Dublin
The Iseq overall index closed down 0.8 per cent at 6,884.33, with one of its heavyweights, Kerry Group, dragging on the market as the nutrition group gleaned no support from reporting a solid set of quarterly figures and narrowing its full-year earnings guidance. Kerry dropped 3.9 per cent to €89.02.
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Morgan Stanley analysts said that Kerry beat analysts’ sales forecasts, and more importantly showed underlying volumes holding up better than expected.
Permanent TSB stood out as a strong spot among banks, rising 3 per cent to €1.72. However, Bank of Ireland lost 2.4 per cent to €7.07, while AIB moved 0.1 per cent lower at €2.88.
Cairn Homes edged 0.3 per cent higher to 99 cent and Glenveagh Properties advanced 1.5 per cent to 98 cent as the two homebuilders came together to launch a court challenge against Wicklow County Council’s development plan, claiming that it will cause a “significant reduction” in the number of homes that can be built there.
London
The UK’s export-oriented FTSE rose 0.3 per cent as gains in Shell, after its bumper profit and plans to boost shareholder returns, helped to offset broader concerns about inflationary pressures and a possible recession.
Shell rose 3.5 per cent after the refiner reported a slightly better-than-expected quarterly profit of $9.45 billion (€9.47 billion) and announced plans to sharply boost its dividend by year end.
Unilever jumped 1 per cent in early trading after it raised its full-year sales forecast but shed nearly all those gains on a dire assessment of consumer sentiment in Europe and China, two of its key markets.
The UK’s financial markets have recovered in the recent days after a taking beating earlier this month on worries about unfunded tax cuts that the previous government proposed. New UK prime minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday delayed until November 17th the announcement of a keenly awaited plan for repairing the country’s public finances.
Miners were among the top losers, dragged down by a 3.8 per cent slide in Anglo American as a drop in copper production saw the company report quarterly output broadly in line with last year. The sector was down 3.2 per cent.
Shares of Lloyds Banking Group gave up 1.6 per cent after the lender posted a decline in third-quarter pretax profit due to bad loan charges.
Europe
Credit Suisse tumbled 18.6 per cent after the embattled lender said it planned to raise 4 billion Swiss francs (€4.05 billion), cut thousands of jobs and shift its focus to its rich clients from investment banking, as it attempts to put years of scandals behind it.
Technology stocks remained under pressure as Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics fell 7 per cent after it forecast sales growth to slow in the latter part of the year.
New York
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead in early afternoon trading following a slew of upbeat earnings reports and data that showed US economic growth rebounded in the third quarter, while the Nasdaq was pressured by a drop in Meta shares.
Caterpillar jumped as the heavy-equipment maker posted a rise in third-quarter profit, while McDonald’s also advanced on beating quarterly comparable sales estimates.
Merck & Co and Honeywell International each climbed as both the companies reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings.
Meanwhile, Facebook-parent Meta Platforms slumped as it posted a drop in third-quarter profit and forecast a weak holiday quarter. Shares of Amazon.com and Apple also fell.
– Additional reporting: Reuters
