Shares lost ground again on Tuesday following sharp drops on Monday as US president Donald Trump said he would double tariffs on Canadian metal imports, fuelling worries of an economic recession.
Dublin
Euronext Dublin was one of the worst performers on this side of the Atlantic as it finished the day down 2.3 per cent.
Among the biggest laggards were the banks with Bank of Ireland and AIB down 2.9 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively. A trader noted the banks have been outperforming over recent weeks. PTSB, which is the smallest of the three Irish banks, closed up 3 per cent.
Traders described the day as “very poor” for airlines, with Air France down 9 per cent, while Aer Lingus parent International Airlines Group was down 6 per cent at close of business. Ryanair had a relatively better time of it, finishing down 1.8 per cent.
In the construction sector, insulation specialist Kingspan slumped 5 per cent. “It has had some very significant rallies since it published numbers in recent weeks, and it gave up some of those gains,” a trader noted.
Meanwhile, housebuilders Glenveagh Properties and Cairn Homes finished down 1.6 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.
Elsewhere, Dalata – the biggest hotel operator in the State – finished down 1 per cent, while dairy giant Kerry Group gave up 1.9 per cent.
London
The British benchmark index closed at its lowest level in nearly two months, dragged by declines in travel and leisure stocks.
The blue-chip index FTSE 100 lost 1.2 per cent, its sixth straight session of decline. The midcap FTSE 250 fell 0.5 per cent to a two-month low. The travel and leisure sector led sectoral declines with a 3.1 per cent fall.
Dominos Pizza’s Group lost 3.6 per cent in volatile trading, after forecasting annual core profit in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, the UK home builder sector rose 2.6 per cent, led by a 5.5 per cent gain in Persimmon after the company said it would build more homes while banking on the support provided by interest rate cuts by the country’s central bank.
Rotork gained 7.1 per cent, after the industrial group announced a deal to acquire South Korean electric actuator manufacturer Noah Actuation and announced a share buyback plan.
Europe
Stocks on the Continent dropped for a fourth straight session as airline stocks slid after profit warnings from US carriers.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1.3 per cent in Zurich as the trade war between the US and Canada ratcheted up. Carmaker Volkswagen fell 1.3 per cent after earlier rallying on results, while peer Stellantis slumped 5.4 per cent.
The travel and leisure subindex dropped 3.1 per cent after American Airlines Group predicted its first-quarter loss would be roughly double its prior guidance, less than a day after Delta Air Lines cut its profit outlook in half. Utilities and real estate outperformed.
Europe’s benchmark index has faltered after a strong start to the year as worries about slowing US economic growth temper optimism around an improving regional fiscal and political outlook.
Both Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac fell 1.3 per cent. The Stoxx 600 has dropped 4.4 per cent from its March 3rd record, although that’s about half the plunge in the S&P 500 since its own February peak.
New York
The S&P 500 index fell more than 10 per cent from its record closing peak after Mr Trump announced fresh tariffs, adding to investor unease that his trade policies could trigger an economic slowdown.
The S&P 500 extended Monday’s sellsell-offt wiped out a staggering $4 trillion from the index’s peak just last month.
Market-leading technology stocks including Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft fell, extending Monday’s declines.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.63 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.12 per cent. Additional reporting: Agencies
