Global markets were quiet on Monday at the start of a holiday-shortened week. After a solid run since the November presidential election, Wall Street’s rally hit a bump this month, especially after the US Federal Reserve forecast just two 0.25 per cent rate reductions for 2025 – down from its September view of four cuts – and raised its annual inflation outlook.
Dublin
The Iseq closed down 0.18 per cent on Monday. AIB was up 1.55 per cent finishing at €5.24. Bank of Ireland dropped 0.16 per cent to €8.65. Ryanair fell 0.80 per cent to €19.10. Dalata Hotels was up 1.09 per cent to €4.63.
Food supplier Kerry Group fell 0.11 per cent to €91.90 a share. Glanbia was up 0.52 per cent to €13.47. Shares in Kingspan decreased by 0.79 per cent to €69.45. Home builders Cairn Homes fell by 0.85 per cent to €2.33. Glenveagh Properties rose by 0.13 per cent to €1.59 a share.
London
The export-oriented FTSE 100 was up 0.2 per cent after logging its worst week in more than a year on Friday. The domestically focused FTSE 250 was down 0.2 per cent.
AstraZeneca rose 1.6 per cent after its lung-cancer drug was approved in the European Union, helping pharma and biotech shares lead sectoral gains with a 1.2 per cent rise.
Energy companies were up 0.6 per cent after last week’s lower-than-expected U.S. inflation reading stabilised oil prices.
On the flip side, industrial support services led losses with a 0.8 per cent decline.
Meanwhile, official figures showed Britain’s economy failed to grow during the first three months of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s new government, adding to signs of a slowdown that has cast a shadow over his time in office so far.
Among individual stocks, Direct Line rose 3.8 per cent to the top of the mid-cap index after insurer Aviva agreed to buy the smaller rival in a 3.7 billion pound (€4.46 billion) cash-and-stock deal.
Europe
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index ended the session 0.1 per cent higher. Healthcare stocks outperformed as Novo rallied, recovering from the previous session when it hit levels not seen since August 2023.
European government bonds fell after European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said policymakers remain alert to lingering price pressures in the services sector, while confident the central bank is nearing its consumer-price target.
The euro-area economy will pick up less momentum next year than previously foreseen and only expand slightly more strongly than in 2024, according to a Bloomberg survey.
The predictions are more downbeat than those of the ECB, which also lowered its outlook this month as it cut interest rates for the fourth time since June.
New York
The S&P 500 and the Dow fell on Monday in holiday-thinned trading after a stopgap government funding bill averted a US government shutdown and investors braced for a slower pace of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve next year.
A cooler-than-expected inflation report on Friday helped U.S. stocks recoup some losses. However, overall market sentiment was still cautious, said Thierry Wizman, strategist at Macquarie.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.27 per cent, to buoyed by gains in chipmakers and megacap stocks.
Nvidia added 1.6 per cent and Meta Platforms rose 1.4 per cent.
Apple’s market capitalisation stood at $3.84 trillion (€3.69 trillion) as the world’s most valuable company inched closer to the $4 trillion (€3.8 trillion) milestone.
Qualcomm’s shares rose 1.7 per cent after a jury found its central processors are properly licensed under an agreement with UK-based Arm Holdings. Shares of Arm, which has vowed to seek a fresh trial, fell about 5 per cent.
Walmart fell 3.3 per cent after the U.S. consumer finance watchdog accused the retail giant and workforce payments company Branch Messenger of forcing more than a million delivery drivers into using accounts that cost them more than $10 million (€9.6 million) in junk fees.
Eli Lilly gained 1.7 per cent after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drugmaker’s weight-loss treatment, Zepbound, for obstructive sleep apnoea. Shares of sleep apnoea device makers ResMed and Inspire Medical fell about 4 per cent each.
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