World markets were left reeling on Thursday after US president Donald Trump unveiled his reciprocal tariffs.
Stock markets tumbled and investors dashed to the relative safety of bonds, gold and the yen.
Dublin
The Iseq All Share Index closed down 1.82 per cent to 10,182.30.
It was a harsh day in the banking sector with both AIB and Bank of Ireland retreating significantly. AIB finished down 4.18 per cent to close at €5.845, while Bank of Ireland dropped 4.08 per cent to €10.69.
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Following a rise on Wednesday, Ryanair found itself down 3.65 per cent at the close, its stock valued at €18.50. Kingspan dropped 1.58 per cent to €74.95.
There were gains, however, in property with Glenveagh up 0.26 per cent to €1.534, while Ires Reit stock jumped 3.10 per cent to close at €0.964.
London
London shares plunged as investors avoided risky assets after Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 touched a two-month low, closing down 1.6 per cent, posting its largest daily drop since August 2024.
The midcap FTSE 250 index fell 2.2 per cent, hitting a one-year low.
The tariffs announced set a baseline of 10 per cent for all imports and higher duties on some of the biggest trading partners of the US, crystallising the global markets’ fears of economic stagflation.
However, London said a trade deal with the US is close, aiming to reduce the impact of new levies.
UK banks’ shares fell 7.6 per cent, tracking losses of European peers, as tariff concerns stoked worries about economic growth of the world’s largest economy.
HSBC Holdings and Barclays were among the top losers on the blue-chip index, falling 8.9 per cent and 8.7 per cent respectively.
Burberry and Watches of Switzerland Group slipped 10 per cent and 13.5 per cent respectively, mirroring losses in European luxury companies after Trump’s new tariffs impacted key luxury markets in the EU and Switzerland.
Industrial metal miners stocks were down 5.3 per cent. On the flip side, utilities shares, often traded as a bond proxy owing to their stable income regardless of economic situation, touched a near six-month high, gaining 4.2 per cent. Among individual stocks, Currys jumped 14.9 per cent.
Europe
European shares tumbled, notching their biggest daily loss in eight months, on fears an escalating trade war would slam the brakes on economic growth.
The pan-European STOXX 600 sank 2.7 per cent, falling back to its lowest since January. German, Italian and French benchmarks closed over 3 per cent lower, with Italian and French stocks seeing their worst fall in over two years.
A gauge of euro zone stock market volatility spiked to an eight-month high of 25.54.
The move tracked a broad selloff in global stocks as investors jumped into safe-haven government bonds and the Japanese yen.
Economically sensitive euro zone banks, basic resources and oil and gas sectors retreated more than 5 per cent each, with banks leading declines.
Adidas and Puma tumbled over 11 per cent each as their key sourcing markets were hit with steep levies.
Luxury goods firms dropped, with LVMH losing 5.6 per cent. Some defensive sectors gained ground, with utilities, and real estate up 3 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.
New York
Trump’s shake-up of the global trading system is hurting US assets more than those in many of the big economies hit by additional tariffs.
US equity index futures tumbled more than 4 per cent and a gauge of the dollar slumped. The dollar headed for its steepest drop in more than two years.
US stocks tumbled, sending the S&P 500 Index back into correction territory to erase nearly $2 trillion in value as the new trade tariffs ignited widespread recession fears and left investors seeking out safe-haven bonds and the yen.
The American equities benchmark plunged over 3 per cent – following global markets sharply lower from Tokyo to London – and putting it on course for its biggest drop since September 2022.
The Nasdaq 100 Index sank nearly 4 per cent, driven by Apple Inc.’s 8.2 per cent loss, the biggest laggard among the Magnificent Seven stocks. Additional reporting – Bloomberg, Reuters
