Oil prices rose more than 1 per cent on Thursday, extending a rebound spurred by concern over Hurricane Francine’s impact on US oil output, which impacted the market. Ryanair underperformed on Thursday on the Irish market, part of a sectoral move as the airline sector was down overall on the day.
Dublin
Ryanair dropped 2.5 per cent to €15.38 a share. It follows the company’s annual general meeting (agm) on Thursday and comments from Michael O’Leary saying the passenger cap at Dublin Airport is “bogus”, something the market did not receive well. From a banking perspective, AIB was up 2.5 per cent on Thursday to €5.36 while Bank of Ireland rose 1.20 per cent to €9.88.
Dalata traded ex-divided on Thursday and finished up 0.30 per cent at €3.97. Food groups such as Kerry Group were flat on Thursday finishing at €91.95, while Glanbia fell marginally by 0.5 per cent to €16.03. Kingspan rose by 0.7 per cent to €77.70.
London
The FTSE 100 made gains amid a positive session for global markets after the European Central Bank (ECB) moved to cut interest rates.
Gains from energy firms and London’s oil majors helped support trading in the City.
The blue-chip index nevertheless finished below its highs of the day after a mixed start to trading on Wall Street took the edge off early positive sentiment.
London’s top index finished 47.03 points, or 0.57 per cent, higher to end the day at 8,240.97.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: “The FTSE 100 bounced back sharply on Thursday following a strong session in Asia and Wall Street overnight, after US inflation fell to its lowest level in more than three years.
“The FTSE 100 benefited from a rebound in energy prices, which lifted heavyweight constituents BP and Shell.
“Crude moved higher on supply risks associated with Hurricane Francine and its impact on operations in the US Gulf of Mexico.”
Europe
The euro wavered on Thursday after the ECB lowered rates by 0.25 per cent. However, sentiment across the main indexes was firmly positive after the ECB’s rate-setting council lowered the deposit rate from 3.75 per cent to 3.5 per cent at a meeting.
The CaC 40 ended 0.52 per cent higher for the day and the Dax index was down 0.97 per cent at the close.
US
Wall Street’s main indexes were mixed in choppy trading on Thursday after higher-than-expected producer prices data kept a smaller 0.25 per cent cut by the Federal Reserve firmly on the table, while Moderna slumped following a downbeat revenue forecast.
The producer price index for final demand rose 0.2 per cent in August, compared with estimates of 0.1 per cent growth. The core number, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3 per cent, higher than the 0.2 per cent forecast.
Separately, initial claims for state unemployment benefits stood at 230,000 for the week ended September 7th, in line with estimates.
Meanwhile, Moderna’s shares dropped 16.8 per cent to their lowest intraday level since November. They were the biggest decliner on the S&P 500 after the vaccine maker forecast sales between $2.5 billion (€2.2 billion) and $3.5 billion next year, below analysts’ estimates.
A string of weakening employment and economic growth data over the past few weeks had led to rising bets on a larger-than-usual 0.5 per cent interest rate reduction from the US central bank, but those expectations have largely faded.
Following Thursday’s data and the inflation report in the previous session, traders now see an 85 per cent chance of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 0.25 per cent when it meets next week, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. It would be the first rate cut since March 2020. – Additional reporting: agencies
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