Global shares edged lower and the US dollar rose on Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision and digested reports of trade talks between the US and China.
Healthcare stocks declined after a controversial appointment to the US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday.
DUBLIN
Outperforming its peers, the Iseq index jumped by 1.2 per cent on Wednesday.
Among individual stocks, AIB advanced 2.3 per cent to €6.20 per share, in advance of the lender’s AGM on Thursday at which the board will decide whether to press ahead with a €1.2 billion buyback of its shares from the State.
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Shares in the bank have plunged in recent weeks, throwing doubt on whether the buyback would proceed.
Bank of Ireland, meanwhile, also improved by close to 2.3 per cent, advancing to €10.74 per share.
Cairn Homes slid 0.8 per cent to close at €1.98 per share in advance of the home builders’ AGM on Thursday while Glenveagh Properties gained 0.5 per cent to €1.63 per share.
Moving towards the bottom of the index, Ovoca Bio plunged 8.7 per cent after announcing plans to cancel trading on the Euronext Growth and plans for a reverse takeover of Bristol-based mineral explorer Tadeen International.
LONDON
UK stocks slid with the healthcare and real estate sectors leading declines as the benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 0.4 per cent while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was flat.
Shares of GSK and AstraZeneca fell between 4.4 per cent and 2 per cent after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appointed Vinay Prasad as its top vaccine official.
In advance of the Bank of England’s rates decision on Thursday, UK lenders Barclays and NatWest were down by 0.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent, while shares in Lloyds edged 0.9 per cent higher.
Defence stocks also declined, with Rolls-Royce off by 1.9 per cent and BAE Systems down 2.3 per cent.
Rentokil Initial fell 3.3 per cent, among the top FTSE 100 losers, after it said its long-serving chief executive was set to retire.
The real estate sector slipped 1 per cent after an industry survey showed that activity in Britain’s construction sector contracted for a fourth month in a row in April.
EUROPE
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index and the blue-chip Stoxx 50 shed around 0.5 per cent.
European retail stocks led sectoral losses with a 2 per cent fall. Data showed a more-than-expected decline in euro zone retail sales on a month-on-month basis in March.
Among individual stocks, Novo Nordisk cut its sales forecasts for the first time since the launch of its Wegovy weight-loss drug four years ago, but its shares rose 1.3 per cent in advance of a US FDA ban on copycat drugs later this month.
Sanofi fell 4.3 per cent after Mr Prasad’s appointment.
Meanwhile, European banks were mixed, with Italian Intesa Sanpaolo down almost 2 per cent despite reporting positive results on Tuesday.
Spanish lender Santander was flat on the session while the Netherlands’ ING dropped 0.7 per cent.
BMW rose 1.6 per cent after the luxury carmaker posted better-than-expected first-quarter results and confirm its 2025 outlook.
NEW YORK
Wall Street’s main indices were mixed in advance of the US Federal Reserve’s latest rates decision, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ahead by around 0.3 per cent at closing bell in Dublin.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, was down 0.4 per cent, weighed down by a 6.4 per cent decline in Alphabet’s shares.
Apple’s shares were trading at nearly two-week lows after a report suggested the iPhone-maker was exploring the option of adding artificial-intelligence search options to its web browser, citing an executive.
On the flip side, a 10.5 per cent jump in Walt Disney’s stock after the streaming firm’s quarterly results topped Street expectations boosted the Dow.
The three main indexes were higher in early morning trading, a day after Washington announced that representatives of the two countries would meet over the weekend in Switzerland for icebreaker trade discussions following weeks of tit-for-tat tariffs between the United States and China. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters
