A gauge of global equity markets hovered off a record peak on Monday as technology shares took in stride a deal by the world’s richest nations on a global minimum corporate tax aimed at the US tech heavyweights and oil prices jumped to a two-year high.
Dublin
Euronext Dublin finished the day up 0.25 per cent on what was a quiet day for the market due to the bank holiday.
The airlines were the outperformers on the day with low-budget airlines Ryanair and EasyJet up 1.5 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. Aer Lingus owner International Airlines Group finished the day up 3 per cent.
“The bounce for airlines was mainly down to recent moves towards reopening,” said a trader. “There were also the calls from transatlantic airlines for the US and the UK to ease travel restrictions, which the markets seemed to like.”
Elsewhere, in the hospitality sector, Dalata Hotel Group finished the day down nearly 3 per cent.
Some of the gaming and leisure names were also weaker on the day as Paddy Power Betfair owner Flutter Entertainment was down just over 1 per cent. Among the housebuilders, Glenveagh Properties was down 2 per cent.
London
London's FTSE 100 index climbed on Monday, helped by gains in banking and homebuilders, while office space provider IWG slumped to a four-month low after issuing a profit warning.
The FTSE 100 ended up 0.1 per cent, with banks stocks, including Barclays PLC, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC Holdings among the top gainers.
Homebuilders gained 1.8 per cent with Bellway, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey jumping more than 1 per cent.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 was up 0.3 per cent, hovering just below record highs.
Office space provider IWG tumbled 10.3 per cent, marking its worst day in more than a year as it said underlying core earnings for the current year would be well below the crisis-hit 2020 level due to continued lockdown restrictions in some markets.
Life sciences company NetScientific surged 91.7 per cent after saying one of its subsidiaries had entered an exclusive licensing agreement with AstraZeneca Plc to sell a Covid-19 test globally.
Europe
Euro-zone government bond yields nudged up from one-month lows but trade was largely subdued as a European Central Bank meeting loomed.
Borrowing costs fell on Friday after a closely-watched US jobs report fell short of expectations, calming worries that a roaring economy could lead the Federal Reserve to soon taper its stimulus.
Germany’s 10-year Bund yield was last up 1.5 basis points at -0.20, keeping near roughly one-month lows hit after Friday’s US jobs data.
Most other 10-year bond yields in the currency bloc were 1-2 bps higher on the day with direction seen limited ahead of Thursday’s ECB meeting.
New York
US equities declined and Treasury yields rose as investors weighed inflation risks and the potential impact of a minimum corporate tax that could enable foreign governments to impose levies on big American companies.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.32 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.04 per cent.
Microsoft rose 0.8 per cent and Facebook 1.4 per cent, while Apple fell 0.7 per cent and Amazon.com 0.4 per cent.
Carnival said it would restart its namesake cruise line trips from US ports this summer, while Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings outlined a plan to add more trips from multiple US ports. Their shares added 2.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent, lifting peer Royal Caribbean by 1.8 per cent.
Cinema operator AMC Entertainment added 18.8 per cent after racking up a near 200 per cent rise in the past two weeks, driven by retail investors. Other "meme stocks" including GameStop and US-listed shares of BlackBerry rose 10.6 per cent and 14.1 per cent.
GameStop shares were the biggest boost to the S&P 600 small-cap index, which was up 0.6 per cent. (Additional reporting: Agencies)
