European shares climbed to a near three-week high on Wednesday, boosted by strong earnings from Europe’s largest software maker SAP, while easing trade tensions between the US and China lifted investor sentiment globally.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended 1.8 per cent higher. Germany’s blue-chip index outperformed local peers to climb 3.1 per cent.
The Trump administration is reportedly looking at lowering tariffs on imported Chinese goods pending talks with Beijing, adding that any action would not be made unilaterally.
DUBLIN
The Iseq All-Share Index rose 2.6 per cent to 10,270.18. Banking stocks, which had been among the worst performers in recent weeks amid wider market turbulence, were in demand. AIB added 6 per cent to €5.89, while Bank of Ireland jumped 4.2 per cent to €10.67.
Glanbia closed 2.9 per cent higher to €10.16. A German activist investor in Glanbia has written to the board of Tirlán Co-operative Society, the nutrition group’s largest shareholder, in a bid to enlist support for a campaign for the business to carry out a strategic review after a share price slump.
LONDON
The UK’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.9 per cent, led by gains in banks and metal mining companies, while markets also found relief in US president Donald Trump’s reversal of his threats to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Standard Chartered, HSBC and Barclays rising between 6.3 per cent and 4.9 per cent.
Investor sentiment also improved following reports of a potential de-escalation on China tariffs by the US as the two economic powers remain locked in a trade war.
The chemicals index was also up 5.25 per cent with Croda International jumping 10.7 per cent after the company reported 8 per cent growth in first quarter group sales.
Babcock rose 5.4 per cent after the engineering firm said it expects fiscal 2025 operating profit to jump 17 per cent.
Reckitt was among the worst performers on the blue-chip index as the maker of Dettol and Lysol cleaning products missed first-quarter like-for-like net sales growth estimates. Its shares dropped 5.7 per cent.
EUROPE
SAP jumped 10.6 per cent to mark its best day in six years after the German company topped analysts’ first-quarter profit expectations, lifting the European technology sector up 3.9 per cent.
The basic resources subindex was also a standout, soaring 3.3 per cent, as prices of base metals like copper climbed on easing worries about trade tensions between the US and China.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said that he believes there will be a de-escalation in US-China trade tensions, but described future negotiations with Beijing as a “slog” that has not started yet.
Fresh data showed euro zone business growth stalled this month as services activity contracted and the manufacturing downturn persisted.
On the downside, banking software company Temenos slid 7.1 per cent, the worst individual performer for the day, after the company missed first-quarter revenue expectations.
NEW YORK
Wall Street’s main indexes were ahead in early afternoon trading as investors welcomed signs of a thaw in the US-China trade war.
Among key corporate results, Tesla leapt nearly 8 per cent after the EV-maker reported better-than-expected profit for its core auto business. Chief executive Elon Musk also said he would step back from his involvement in the Trump administration to focus on running his numerous companies.
The apparent US softening on China tariffs was a welcome sign for markets battered by Mr Trump’s erratic trade policies, as a result of which the S&P 500 is currently more than 12 per cent below its February record close.
Boeing gained after reporting a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss.
- Additional reporting, Reuters
