European shares were subdued on Friday, limited by weakness in luxury and mining stocks in a dour end to a week dominated by the start to a busy earnings season alongside geopolitical jitters.
Dublin
Irish shares ended the week largely flat, with gains in banking shares and food stocks offset by declines in travel stocks.
AIB shares added just over half a per cent over the session, with Bank of Ireland gaining 0.36 per cent. Shares in PTSB, which put itself up for sale in late 2025, rose 10 per cent. Insurer FBD fell 2.5 per cent to €15.50.
Ryanair also edged lower, declining 0.5 per cent by the end of the session. Insulation specialist Kingspan was almost 1 per cent lower.
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Food group Kerry was largely flat at €74.65.
London
The blue-chip FTSE 100 slipped 0.04 per cent to 10,235.29 points, while ending the week with a 0.1 per cent rise. The domestically focused mid-cap index added 0.13 per cent, closing at a five-week high, and was up 1.2 per cent for the week.
London-listed miners led losses, with Glencore and Rio Tinto down 2.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively, pressured by concerns over weakening demand for copper from top consumer China.
The index of precious metal miners was down 1.2 per cent, with Endeavour mining down 2.6 per cent, becoming one of the top losers on the blue-chip index.
Defence stocks bucked the trend on Friday amid renewed instability around the Russia-Ukraine conflict after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy declared a state of emergency and Britain pledged £20 million (€23 million) in energy aid to Ukraine.
Britain’s aerospace and defence index jumped 1.25 per cent, with BAE Systems climbing 1.4 per cent and Babcock international group up 1 per cent.
Europe
The pan-European Stoxx 600 finished flat at 614.38 points, with the luxury index falling 3.2 per cent and logging its biggest daily fall since early October.
Richemont was among the leading laggards, declining 5.4 per cent after BofA global research cut its recommendation on the Swiss jewellery company to neutral from buy and told investors to wait, citing extended valuations after a recent rally.
Still, the Stoxx 600 logged its fifth-consecutive weekly gain, its longest winning streak since May 2025.
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk jumped 6.5 per cent after analysts said its weight-loss pill Wegovy made an “encouraging” start after its launch this month. The healthcare index also added 0.6 per cent.
New York
Major Wall Street indexes sagged on Friday, although chipmakers gained after a jittery week, while gold slowed and the dollar paused near a six-week high as traders bet the Federal Reserve would wait before cutting interest rates.
Gold slowed going into the weekend after a roaring ride on safe haven demand. Oil prices, however, rose as the market continued to fret about supply risks, even after US President Donald Trump dialled down talk of intervening to address a government crackdown on protests in Iran.
A proposed one-year cap on credit card interest rates weighed on lenders’ shares and other markets during the week, despite strong quarterly showings from big US banks which gave some positive signs for the broader economy.
The S&P 500 was down 0.12 per cent on Friday at 6,936.04 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.22 per cent to 23,477.94.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.16 per cent lower at 49,363.46, after punching out a fresh record close on Monday. U.S. stocks overall were set for modest weekly losses.
A trade deal clinched by the US and Taiwan on Thursday cuts tariffs on many of the semiconductor powerhouse’s exports, and direct investments towards the US technology industry. This risks infuriating China, but could bode well for businesses in the supply chain.
The Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday will keep US markets shut on Monday, but the earnings season romps along next week with results due from Netflix, Johnson & Johnson and Intel. – Additional reporting: Reuters
