Stocks rallied globally on Thursday after the passage of a bill by US politicians to suspend the nation’s debt ceiling.
The bill to suspend the $31.4 trillion (€28.8 trillion) debt ceiling on Wednesday passed with majority support from both Democrats and Republicans, and will now head to the senate, which must enact the measure before a Monday deadline, when the government is expected to run out of money to pay its bills.
Dublin
After shedding around 1.5 per cent over the previous two sessions, the Iseq index clawed back around 0.75 per cent on Thursday. Traders in Dublin said a mild “relief rally” took hold during the session, pushing some of the bigger names into green.
Banks and energy stocks were the top performers with Bank of Ireland adding more than 2 per cent to close at €8.98 per share, while AIB was stronger by more around 0.9 per cent to €3.87. Permanent TSB was the outlier, giving back 5.5 per cent to finish at €2.23 per share.
Travel stocks benefited from the reaction to the latest euro zone inflation data with Ryanair up by 1.4 per cent to €16.68 per share and Irish Continental Group also adding 1.4 per cent to finish at €4.55 per share.
Moving in the opposite direction, housebuilder Glenveagh fell by almost 1 per cent to €1.03.
London
In London the blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.8 per cent as moods improved globally, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 0.6 per cent, weighed down slightly by Dr Martens, which logged its worst day in more than four months.
Forecasting lower earnings for the next year, the footwear-maker’s chief executive Kenny Wilson said that the US is expected to be a troubled market. The company’s difficulties have been compounded by operational difficulties at its Los Angeles distribution centre, analysts said.
ASOS, a British online fashion pioneer valued at more than £7 billion just over two years ago, was relegated to the FTSE 250 index of mid-sized companies after its shares fell 3 per cent in trading to a 12-year low.
Shares in mining and mineral companies Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Fresnillo surged by between 2.4. per cent and 4.5 per cent on rising metal prices.
Europe
Europe’s main indices climbed on Thursday, snapping days of losses after new data showed euro zone inflation eased more than expected last month. The blue-chip Stoxx 50 added 0.9 per cent, while the pan-Europe Stoxx 600 index gained 0.8 per cent.
Spanish banks BBVA and Santander, up by between 2.3 per cent and 2.6 per cent, were among the bigger winners, with their Italian peer Intesa Sanpaolo up 3.5 per cent, topping the table on the session.
Bailed-out German gas supplier Uniper, meanwhile, continued its strong run, adding more than 25 per cent after completing the sale of its UAE-based marine fuel trading business.
Luxury names LVMH and Essilor Luxottica, down around 1 per cent, continued their recent downward slide amid concerns about US and Chinese demand.
New York
On Wall Street all three main indices were trading higher led by stocks in technology, communication services, industrials and financials.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.11 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.42 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.52 per cent despite a reversal in the artificial intelligence-led rally that took hold in recent sessions.
AI software firm C3.AI fell more than 18 per cent, extending Wednesday’s drop of 9 per cent, on a disappointing sales outlook, and paring its gain for the year to just under 200 per cent. Nvidia declined 5.7 per cent after surging over 30 per cent in three days after the chipmaker briefly reached a $1 trillion market cap earlier this week.
Dismal earnings from Salesforce briefly weighed down the Dow early in the session, tempering optimism over the US debt ceiling deal. Shares in the software company fell as much as 5.5 per cent after it posted its slowest pace of revenue growth in 13 years.
Meta Platforms Inc added 2.4 per cent, helping boost the Nasdaq after unveiling its next-generation mixed reality headset.
However, Macy’s shed 3.7 per cent and Dollar General slid 16.2 per cent as the retail companies cut their full-year sales forecasts amid high inflation.
– Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters
