European shares ended the week in the red, capping a poor week for stocks. In New York, Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment dropped as much as 12 per cent after peer Draft Kings offered a weaker than expected outlook.
Dublin
The Irish market ended the week lower, falling 2 per cent on Friday to cap a negative run that extended through most of the week.
Banking shares had another poor day, with losses widening in both AIB, which fell 4.7 per cent, and Bank of Ireland losing 6.1 per cent. Insurer FBD was down 0.3 per cent, with only Permanent TSB bucking the trend to rise 0.3 per cent.
Insulation specialist Kingspan was also off the pace, down 3.1 per cent.
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Ryanair gained back some of its losses this week to end Friday marginally higher, at €26.79. Ferries group Irish Continental closed the week at €6.32, a rise of 3.3 per cent.
London
The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.4 per cent, hovering below record highs touched on Thursday. The FTSE 250 mid-cap index gained 0.5 per cent, securing its first weekly rise after two consecutive weeks of losses.
London-listed credit analytics firm Experian, exchange operator London Stock Exchange Group, information group RELX, which were among the worst-hit stocks in the global selloff, rebounded on Friday.
Among other stock movers, NatWest reported a 24 per cent jump in annual profit, just ahead of forecasts, and set more ambitious performance targets as it steps up investment in Britain’s costly but potentially lucrative wealth management market.
However, the bank’s shares fell 2.5 per cent following a strong run last year.
Defence stocks got a lift, adding 3.1 per cent after a report that UK prime minister Keir Starmer plans to push a multinational defence initiative at the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
Europe
In European equities on Friday, the Stoxx 600 ended the week largely flat, losing 0.1 per cent by the close of the day.
In Paris, the CAC 40 Index slipped 0.35 per cent, as bank stocks struggled across the Continent. Societe Generale fell 5.4 per cent while BNP Paribas fell 2.4 per cent. L’Oreal lost 4.9 per cent.
Germany’s Dax Index rose 0.2 per cent, led higher by Deutsche Boerse which added 4.9 per cent a day after it agreed terms to buy out General Atlantic’s remaining 20 per cent stake in ISS STOXX for €1.1 billion. That helped offset drops in German banks Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank which lost 4 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively.
New York
Wall Street indexes were mostly higher while Treasury yields fell on Friday as investors digested cooler-than-expected US inflation data for January that some saw as underpinning hopes for rate cuts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.10 per cent, to 49,501.34, the S&P 500 rose 9.72 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 6,842.48 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 17.64 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 22,579.50.
Flutter Entertainment slumped more than 12 per cent after rival Draft Kings published revenue and adjusted EBITDA forecasts well behind market expectations.
Dublin-based clinical trials firm Icon rose 19 per cent, recovering some losses after a plunge on Thursday following its revelation that it may have overstated revenue for two years and delayed its 2025 earnings announcement.
Big tech stocks weighed, with Nvidia and Alphabet down 1.5 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively.
Healthcare shares supported markets on Friday, with Eli Lilly and UnitedHealth adding 0.8 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively. Moderna jumped 8.9 per cent after posting fourth-quarter revenue above expectations.
Applied Materials shares advanced 9.3 per cent after the chipmaking-equipment firm forecast second-quarter revenue and profit above Wall Street expectations. -Additional reporting: Reuters, Bloomberg
