Global markets were mixed in choppy trading on Friday, as inflation concerns and uncertainty around US involvement in the Iran-Israel war offset relief over president Donald Trump holding back from any immediate action.
Dublin
PTSB was the standout performer on the day in Dublin as it climbed 4 per cent while the Euronext Dublin index was unchanged. Its peers AIB and Bank of Ireland were flat.
Dalata, the biggest hotel operator in the State, finished up 3 per cent at €6.40 after a Scandinavian consortium circling the group signalled an interest in potentially making an improved offer for the business, after its €1.3 billion bid was rejected earlier this month.
Oslo-based investment firm Eiendomsspar and Swedish hotel company Pandox, in which it owns an almost 25 per cent stake, said they have bought 1.69 million shares in Dalata at €6.30 – marking a premium to the €6.05-a-share non-binding offer it made previously.
Elsewhere, food giant Kerry Group underperformed as it finished down 1.8 per cent after earlier announcing it has initiated a €300 million share buyback programme that will run until February 27th, 2026.
The airlines were a mixed bag, with Ryanair up 0.5 per cent, while longer-haul peers Lufthansa and Aer Lingus parent International Airlines Group were up 2 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively.
London
Britain’s FTSE 100 snapped a five-week winning streak, closing out a week marred by a wave of global risk aversion amid the conflict between Israel and Iran, while a slew of interest rate verdicts were also assessed.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 dipped 0.2 per cent to hit a more than two-week low, while the midcap index ended 0.4 per cent higher, though with marginal weekly losses.
Drugmakers GSK and AstraZeneca were among the top drags on the FTSE 100, down 2.3 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively.
Heavyweight energy shares gave back some of their gains from earlier this week as crude oil prices also edged lower. BP lagged with a 2.1 per cent decline.
Among headlining stocks, Berkeley dropped 8.2 per cent after the home builder reported results and forecast fiscal 2026 and 2027 profits below market expectations and proposed the appointment of CEO Rob Perrins as executive chair.
Europe
Euro zone government bond yields were on track for a weekly decline. German 10-year government bond yields, which serve as the benchmark for the wider euro zone, fell 0.5 basis points to 2.51 per cent and were set to end the week 1.5 basis points lower.
In the stock markets, the Europe-wide Stoxx 600 finished down 1.5 per cent. The Cac 40 in Paris closed up 0.3 per cent, and the Dax 40 in Frankfurt ended 1.3 per cent higher.
New York
Wall Street indexes tracked modestly higher as markets took comfort after the White House said Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the US will join Israel in attacking Iran.
Six of the 11 major S&P 500 subsectors rose. Utilities led sector gains with a 1 per cent rise. On the flip side, communication services stocks lost 1.2 per cent. All three main indexes were set for weekly gains.
Investors are also bracing for any potential spike in volatility from Friday’s “triple witching” – the simultaneous expiration of single stock options, stock index futures, and stock index options contracts that happens once a quarter.
Among megacap stocks, shares of Google parent Alphabet fell 2.5 per cent while chipmaker Nvidia, Amazon.com and Meta were down about 1 per cent each.
Kroger rose 9.3 per cent after the grocery chain increased its annual identical sales forecast.
GMS shares rose 28.3 per cent after QXO made an offer on Wednesday to acquire the company for about $5 billion in cash. Shares of QXO were up 4.1 per cent.
Accenture fell 6.3 per cent after the IT services provider said new bookings decreased in the third quarter. – Additional reporting: Agencies
