Global stock indices fell and treasury yields edged higher on Tuesday, with investors bracing for key US inflation data this week and the start of fourth-quarter company earnings.
Dublin
Most stocks on Euronext Dublin were weaker as the index finished the day down 1 per cent. Trading volumes were down about 20 per cent against the average.
“It was generally weak across all sectors, although no one name particularly stood out,” said one trader. “There were also very few names holding their heads up.”
AIB was down 3 per cent at close of business after the Government confirmed plans to extend the bank’s share trading plan into a fifth phase, further reducing its bailout era shareholding in the group. Elsewhere, Bank of Ireland finished down 1.5 per cent.
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Paddy Power Betfair parent, Flutter Entertainment – one of the biggest hitters on the index –, was down 1.1 per cent. Elsewhere, Ryanair ended the day down 1.5 per cent, which was largely in line with the other airlines.
Among the food names, dairy giant Kerry Group was one of the few not to lose ground at it finished flat, while Glanbia was off 0.4 per cent when the market closed.
London
UK shares floundered after a disappointing session for London’s top retail stocks, as new data pointed to a festive sales flop for retailers.
The FTSE 100 was 0.13 per cent weaker, with JD Sports, Marks & Spencer, Ocado and Kingfisher among the day’s biggest fallers, while basic resources also lagged.
The British Retail Consortium-KPMG retail sales monitor showed weak consumer confidence continued to hold back spending in December, with total sales just 1.7 per cent higher than a year earlier.
Pharmaceutical giant GSK was near the top of the FTSE 100 after announcing it had struck a deal to buy asthma drug firm Aiolos Bio, a three-month-old start-up, for up to $1.4 billion (€1.3 billion).
GSK has been growing its range of treatments for respiratory diseases, and said the acquisition could help reach more asthma patients. Its share price was 1.8 per cent higher at close.
It was also a positive session for B&M Value Retail which told shareholders its sales rose over the key “golden quarter”, referring to the three months leading up to Christmas. Its share price moved 0.9 per cent higher at the end of the day.
Europe
On the continent, Germany’s Dax was down 0.17 per cent and France’s Cac 40 0.32 per cent lower at the end of the day.
The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 49 nations, lost 0.37 per cent, while the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.2 per cent.
The euro was a touch weaker on the day and down 0.9 per cent versus 12 months ago.
New York
Wall Street’s main indices fell with megacaps under pressure from rising treasury yields and traders scaling back expectations for an early start to interest-rate cuts ahead of key inflation reports due later this week.
Microsoft, Apple, Tesla and Amazon shed between 0.8 per cent and 2 per cent, with yields on shorter- and longer-dated US treasury notes ticking over 4 per cent.
Nvidia, too, slipped 0.7 per cent after closing at a record high on unveiling new artificial intelligence components.
Boeing lost 1.9 per cent, down for the second day as the US National Transportation Safety Board continued its probe after a section of the fuselage fell from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 on Friday.
Juniper Networks surged 22.3 per cent after a source told Reuters that Hewlett Packard Enterprise was in talks to buy the networking product maker in a $13 billion deal. The server maker dropped 8.2 per cent.
Netflix lost 1.6 per cent after brokerage Citigroup downgraded the streaming platform to “neutral” from “buy”. (Additional reporting: Agencies)
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