Global stocks indexes hit all-time highs on Friday after China’s central bank lowered interest rates and injected liquidity into its banking system, and as US inflation continued to ease, while treasury yields dipped.
Europe’s benchmark STOXX 600 index rose to a record high, and the Dow and the MSCI global stock index also hit record intraday highs.
Dublin
Closer to home, the Irish index of shares fell 1 per cent, dragged lower by declines in banking shares and some construction stocks. The Euronext Dublin finished the week at 10,107.
Shares in AIB fell 3.46 per cent to €5.30, giving up some of the gains the stock made on Thursday, while Bank of Ireland also fell, shedding 2.7 per cent to close at €10.48. Permanent TSB bucked the trend, adding 1.2 per cent to the share price to close at 1.72.
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Elsewhere on the market, Ryanair fell 0.62 per cent, while Kingspan was down 1.5 per cent.
On the more positive side of things, Glanbia rose 1.2 per cent, and Irish Continental Group gained 1.45 per cent.
London
British equities ended the week on a high note on signs US inflation is continuing to ease, boosting the view that the Federal Reserve will continue its monetary loosening, while China’s aggressive stimulus measures lifted mining and luxury stocks.
The blue chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.4 per cent, while the domestically-focused FTSE 250 midcap index rose over 1 per cent.
Cranswick rose 6.7 per cent after the meat producer forecast its annual profit towards the upper end of market expectations.
Rightmove will consider a sweetened £6.2 billion takeover bid from Rupert Murdoch-owned Australian firm REA Group after rejecting three previous bids. Shares of the UK real estate portal rose 0.5 per cent.
Europe
The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 0.5 per cent at 528.08, taking its gains for the week to more than 2 per cent.
China-exposed sectors such as automakers and chemicals were among the biggest risers, each jumping more than 2 per cent, reflecting the importance of the country to European companies.
Luxury firms LVMH and Richemont gained 3.7 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively.
A gauge of 10 of Europe’s biggest luxury firms added 2.6 per cent, lifting its weekly gain above 13 per cent, the most since the index was created in 2016.
Moncler also rose 10.9 per cent after French rival LVMH took a small stake in the Italian outerwear specialist.
New York
The blue-chip Dow rose on Friday to hit an intraday record and small-cap stocks outperformed after a benign inflation report cleared the way for the Federal Reserve to focus on shoring up the labour market while continuing its interest rate easing.
A Commerce Department’s report showed that consumer spending increased moderately in August, suggesting the economy retained some of its solid momentum in the third quarter, while inflation pressures continued to abate.
At 11:50am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 410.80 points, or 0.97 per cent, to 42,585.91; the S&P 500 gained 2.69 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 5,748.00; and the Nasdaq Composite lost 61.33 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 18,128.96.
Nasdaq components such as Nvidia and Microsoft lost 2.7 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively, as investors turned their focus to other sectors.
Financial stocks including Goldman Sachs and healthcare stocks like UnitedHealth were the biggest boosts to the Dow. – Additional reporting: Reuters
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