Global shares edged lower on Monday as investors await key US economic data later in the week.
Risk appetite is likely to be tested over the coming days by the September US jobs report, due on Thursday, and an earnings report from global AI bellwether Nvidia, due on Wednesday.
Dublin
Slightly underperforming its European peers, the Iseq index shed 1.6 per cent.
READ MORE
In line with similar moves across the Continent, Irish banks logged among the biggest declines on the index. Bank of Ireland fell 2.3 per cent to €15.36 per share, while AIB slid 1.2 per cent to €8.46.
PTSB was a rare bright spot, adding 0.3 per cent to €3.20 after announcing the agreement of a loan sale on Friday, which will free up capital.
Ryanair shed 1.8 per cent to close at €26.33 per share.
Europe
After logging their biggest daily loss in more than a month on Friday, European shares closed down after flirting with marginal gains in early trading. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index dipped 0.5 per cent, while the blue chip Stoxx 50 fell by 0.9 per cent.
Banks and insurers weighed on indices, with the likes of Spain’s Santander and BBVA down 2.3 per cent 1.5 per cent. Italian lender Intesa Sanpaolo dropped 1.1 per cent and France’s BNP Paribas gave back 0.7 per cent.
Luxury stocks also suffered. Luis Vuitton owner LVMH fell 2 per cent, while its rival, French luxury stable Kering, dropped 2.2 per cent.
Among individual stocks, Saab secured a €3.1 billion contract with the Colombian government to supply 17 Gripen fighter jets over the next five years, boosting the Swedish defence company’s shares by 2.5 per cent.
London
In line with other European markets, financial stocks dragged London’s FTSE 100 index down 0.2 per cent and the mid-cap FTSE 250 dipped 0.6 per cent.
Heavyweight banks was down 0.8 per cent, with Barclays, HSBC, and Standard Chartered falling between 0.7 per cent and 1 per cent.
Advertising group WPP rose 5 per cent after the Times reported, citing sources, that the firm has drawn takeover interest from French rival Havas and private equity firms Apollo and KKR.
Market attention now shifts to this week’s UK inflation report, as the budget announcement approaches and the Bank of England contemplates its interest rate decision in advance of the December 18th monetary policy meeting.
New York
US stocks weakened and benchmark Treasury yields inched lower as investors embarked on a week of accelerated economic data releases in the aftermath of the longest government shutdown in US history.
The week’s marquee event is Nvidia earnings on Wednesday after the market closes. While a strong report could boost Nvidia shares and lead the market higher, any miss – real or perceived – could stop the rally in its tracks and add significant weight to the downside.
Investors are looking to Nvidia to “quell the recent uptick in AI scepticism that is behind this decline in tech and the S&P 500,” wrote Tom Essaye, founder of The Sevens Report newsletter.
Among other individual stocks, Quantum Computing rallied 7.5 per cent after reporting third-quarter net income of $2.4 million (€2 million), or 1 cent per share, versus a loss of $5.7 million, or 6 cents per share, in the quarter last year.
Aramark fell 5.5 per cent after the food and facilities management company reported revenue and adjusted EPS for the fourth quarter that missed consensus estimates.
EW Scripps soared 15 per cent after Sinclair took an 8.2 per cent stake. – Additional reporting: Reuters, Bloomberg
