European shares rose on Thursday as strong earnings reports eased fears sparked by trade and tariffs turmoil.
Dublin
Irish shares rose alongside European markets. Insulation maker Kingspan was one of the day’s big movers after Danish rival, Rockwool, reported better than expected results for last year.
Buyers rushed to the Cavan-based group’s stock in the afternoon sending it above €68 at one point. The shares ended the day 3.68 per cent ahead at €67.55.
Ryanair had a slow day in comparison to other air travel stocks, ending flat on €20.50, although the stock did reach €20.61 in early trade.
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Elsewhere, AIB rose 3.06 per cent to €5.90 while peer Bank of Ireland closed 3.2 per cent up at €9.85.
London
The FTSE 100 reached a record high on Thursday after the Bank of England announced that it is cutting interest rates.
London’s blue-chip index gained 104 points to finish the day at 8,727, or a 1.2 per cent rise.
The UK’s central bank cut rates to 4.5 per cent, but presented a gloomy economic outlook for the country over the next year.
In company news, AstraZeneca, said revenues jumped by almost a fifth in the past year amid strong sales of its cancer treatments. Shares surged by 7 per cent to on Thursday to 11786 pence sterling.
Meanwhile, car dealership Vertu Motors blamed budget cost hikes for job cuts announced on Thursday.
It is understood the number of jobs being axed is minimal, but that the group will reduce roles by not replacing workers when they leave.
Shares fell 7.5 per cent to 52.7p.
Aer Lingus owner International Consolidate Airlines Group gained 3.3 per cent to 363.4p while EasyJet rose 4.8 per cent to 529.2p on what was a good day for air travel stocks.
Europe
European stocks hit a record high Thursday, boosted by optimism that corporate earnings remain resilient at a time of rising trade uncertainties with the US.
The Stoxx 600 rose 1.2 per cent to 544.84 by the close, surpassing a peak reached on January 31st.
Insulation maker Rockwool surged almost 16 per cent on the Copenhagen market to 2,894 Danish kroner after reporting that 2024 profits rose 40 per cent to €550 million. The news boosted Irish rival Kingspan.
France’s CAC 40 Index jumped 1.5 per cent to 8,007.62, recouping all the declines sparked by last summer’s political turmoil.
Sentiment was also driven by the increased potential for a deal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Irish Distillers owner Pernod Ricard gained 3.2 per cent to €105.60, even as it cut its sales outlook for the year, saying China’s slowdown was weighing on demand for its Martell Cognac.
The shares had already fallen 7 per cent this week and closed Wednesday at the lowest since December 2016.
New York
US stocks rose as traders braced for Friday’s jobs data and sifted through a flurry of corporate earnings ahead of Amazon’s results.
Almost 300 shares in the S&P 500 advanced, but the index struggled to gain a whole lot of traction. Qualcomm sank on investor fears that demand for new handsets will stall. Peloton Interactive surged amid a bullish outlook. Philip Morris International jumped to a record on solid sales of Zyn nicotine pouches. Ford Motor Co sank after a profit warning. Eli Lilly & Co’s forecast came in line with estimates.
Disappointing figures from major cloud-computing companies Alphabet and Microsoft suggest reasons to be cautious about Amazon Web Services, the biggest player in the industry. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Rueters
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