European shares on Friday suffered their steepest decline in three weeks after a robust US jobs report stoked fresh inflation fears and solidified expectations of a cautious approach to rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Dublin
The Dublin market closed the week lower, falling 0.8 per cent by the closing bell and mirroring its European counterparts.
Financial stocks rose but it wasn’t enough to keep the index in the black at the close of the session with AIB gaining a marginal 0.18 per cent and Bank of Ireland adding 1.08 per cent over the day. FBD holdings was also higher, adding almost 1.2 per cent but Permanent TSB fell close to 3 per cent.
Food stocks fell with Kerry Group down more than 2 per cent and Glanbia falling by a more muted 0.8 per cent.
Ryanair shed 1.2 per cent to close the day at €18.78 and insulation specialist Kingspan lost 1.6 per cent from its share price.
London
The exporter-heavy FTSE 100 dipped 0.9 per cent but notched its third straight weekly advance, supported by a sharp drop in sterling through the week.
Insurers dropped 2.3 per cent with those having a large exposure to the Los Angeles wildfires, such Beazley and Hiscox, leading losses.
Alliance Pharma jumped 38 per cent after it agreed to be acquired by asset management firm DBAY Advisors in an all-cash deal valuing the healthcare group at 349.7 million
The FTSE 250 index, which is made up of companies that closely track the domestic economy, fell 1.4 per cent to an eight-month low. The index recorded a 2.8 per cent weekly drop, its weakest performance since October 2023, hurt by a sharp rise in British borrowing costs that fuelled concerns about public finances following big spending plans announced by the government.
Europe
The pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 0.8 per cent, its most significant fall since December 20th despite clinching its strongest weekly performance in a month.
Adding to the market’s woes, European government bond yields climbed with Germany’s 10-year bund yield reaching its highest point since July 2024. The surge in yields dampened investor sentiment, impacting sectors such as utilities which dropped by 2.3 per cent due to their bond-like characteristics.
In the session, the automobile sector rose 0.5 per cent, driven by a 3.7 per cent gain in Mercedes-Benz, after its fourth quarter sales results.
The food and beverages subindex was among the top losers, with alcohol manufacturers Pernod Ricard, Diageo and Anheuser-Busch Inbev leading losses.
Ambu jumped 17.1 per cent to the top of the pan-European index after the Danish medical devices maker posted preliminary first-quarter results and hiked its full-year outlook.
New York
Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Friday, with the S&P 500 touching an over two-month low after an upbeat jobs report stoked fresh inflation worries and reinforced bets that the Federal Reserve will be cautious in cutting interest rates this year.
At 11:50am eastern time the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 634.08 points, or 1.49 per cent, to 42,001.12, the S&P 500 lost 93.25 points, or 1.58 per cent, to 5,825.00 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 367.64 points, or 1.89 per cent, to 19,111.24.
Chip stocks such as Nvidia dropped 3.6 per cent, weighed down by a report that the US could announce new export regulations as early as Friday.
Constellation Energy soared 22 per cent after agreeing to buy privately held natural gas and geothermal company Calpine Corp for $16.4 billion, while Constellation Brands slid 14.8 per cent after cutting its annual sales and profit forecasts.
Walgreens Boots Alliance jumped 23 per cent after reporting an upbeat quarterly profit. – Additional reporting: Reuters
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