Nervousness continued to grip markets on Tuesday as investors awaited key company results and monetary policy moves.
DUBLIN
A boost for shares in Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment helped the Irish market outperform most others in Europe on Tuesday, dealers said.
Shares in the global betting giant, also parent of Betfair, Sky Bet, and FanDuel in the US, were up 1.49 per cent at €180.65. Dealers pointed out that Flutter’s annual general meeting is this Thursday, while the company will have a trading update early next week.
Insulation maker Kingspan slipped 1.84 per cent to €59.62 on general nervousness about the building materials industry. Landlord Ires Reit fell 1.96 per cent to €1.00 as agitation from investors to sell the apartment owner continued. Pressure has been growing on the company as it prepares to sell key properties in Dublin city centre.
Packaging giant Smurfit Kappa shed 1 per cent to €32.68. Rival Packaging Corporation of America lost 6 per cent of its value after earnings missed market expectations late on Monday.
Profit warnings have hit the industry recently, dealers noted.
Permanent TSB was down 7.76 per cent at €2.26 following a fall that came just before the close. AIB fell 0.46 per cent to €3.92. The Government cut its stake in the lender to 53.4 per cent following a share buyback.
LONDON
Penney’s owner Associated British Foods slid 4.15 per cent to 1,984 pence sterling after reporting following a 3 per cent fall in first-half profit to £684 million sterling.
The group, owner of Irish-based fashion chain, Penneys — known as Primark outside the Republic — cautioned about the future strength of consumer spending in the face of ongoing inflation.
Weakness in copper prices and banking jitters dragged on miners and lenders, while investors remained cautious ahead of major US earnings news, forcing a fall in London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 Index.
Industrial miners lost 2.2 per cent, tracking weakness in copper prices over lacklustre demand from top metal consumer China.
Banks shed 1.5 per cent, picking up on weak sentiment for the sector after US lender First Republic Bank’s deposits plunged by more than $100 billion in the first quarter.
Whitbread climbed 4.25 per cent to 3,259p after the Premier Inn owner reported its annual profit above pre-pandemic levels.
The mid-cap FTSE 250, mostly exposed to the British market, also slipped. Shares in Travis Perkins fell 2.8 per cent to 932.6p after the building materials supplier forecasted weakness in new house construction.
Anglo American reported a 9 per cent rise in first-quarter production, helped by strong copper output from the ramp up of its Quellaveco mine. However, its shares were down 3.42 per cent at 2,426p, in line with the broader market
EUROPE
Swiss bank UBS reported a 52 per cent slide in quarterly profit, as it prepares to integrate fallen rival Credit Suisse.
The drop in profit was largely due to UBS setting aside a further $665 million to cover the costs of toxic mortgages that played a central role in the global financial crisis some 15 years ago.
UBS shares fell 4 per cent, weighing in turn on the broader STOXX 600 index, which lost 0.3 per cent on the day, with a banks index down 2 per cent.
NEW YORK
Mid-tier lender First Republic Bank shares sank more than 20 per cent after the close on Monday, when it reported that deposits plunged by more than $100 billion in the first quarter and it was exploring options such as restructuring its balance sheet.
But PepsiCo and General Electric gained in pre-market trading after lifting profit forecasts on Tuesday.
Tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet — Google’s owner — were due to report results after the US closing bell on Tuesday. — Additional reporting: Reuters
