European shares recovered on Monday as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach to the impact of US tariffs on global trade, although Swiss shares took a hit as the market reacted to the US’s plan to impose 39 per cent tariff.
Dublin
Bank of Ireland shares lured buyers on what dealers said was a quiet day overall, with a public holiday in the Republic.
The bank benefited from Friday’s British supreme court ruling reversing a court of appeal finding on car loans that left lenders facing billions of pounds in compensation claims. Bank of Ireland’s British business was one of those exposed.
On Monday its shares rose 2.35 per cent to €11.775.
In the same sector, Permanent TSB climbed 1.92 per cent to €2.12.
Among the market’s bigger stocks, Ryanair climbed 2.89 per cent to close at €25.97, edging closer to the €26 mark, which dealers dubbed “massive” for the airline.
Investors have been moving into the company, Europe’s biggest airline, since it emerged that London Stock Exchange Group subsidiary FTSE Russell proposed including the carrier in its global equity index series.
The stock joined the MSCI index in June.
Elsewhere, drug and medical device distributor Uniphar gained 3.9 per cent to €3.995. Dealers noted that there was little behind the move as the numbers of shares traded were low.
Housebuilder Cairn Homes added 1.4 per cent to €2.175.
Overall, traders said there was little on the negative front on Monday.
London
Close Brothers Group plc (CBG) surged 23.53 per cent to 491.4 pence sterling on Monday making it the biggest beneficiary of Friday’s British supreme court ruling on car loans.
The firm has a large motor finance business that would have been in the firing line had judges not overturned a previous court-of-appeal finding.
Lloyds Banking Group found favour with investors on the same grounds, climbing 9 per cent to 82.56p.
NatWest advanced 3.17 per cent to 527.9p, while financial adviser St James Place rose 4.68 per cent to 1,353.5p.
Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce continued its good recent run, getting a 2.35 per cent lift-off to 1,090p.
Pest control specialist Rentokil slid more than 2 per cent to 354.3p after the company reported a sharp fall in earnings per share over the first half of the year.
Chronic illness treatment specialist ConvaTec dipped 0.87 per cent to 229p.
Europe
Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 closed ahead on Monday following Friday’s sharp fall sparked by the introduction of US tariffs.
However, Switzerland’s SMI fell as much as 1.9 per cent in early trade as investors returned following a public holiday on Friday, the day on which Washington imposed a tariff of 39 per cent on Swiss goods. The index cut losses back to about 0.2 per cent later in the day.
Luxury watchmaker Richemont was 1.27 per cent off at 131.7 Swiss francs.
UBS, one of the country’s best-known banks, fell 0.7 per cent to 30.22 Swiss francs after confirming it would pay $300 million to resolve US mortgage securities cases.
US
US shares bounced back on Monday following Friday’s sell-off as investors bet on deeper Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in the wake of unexpectedly weak jobs figures.
By 5.40pm Irish time, the Dow Jones Industrial average had risen 463.55 points or 1.06 per cent, the S&P 500 was up 74.56 points or 1.2 per cent and the Nasdaq composite had climbed 325.95 points or 1.58 per cent.
Tesla rose 1.2 per cent after granting chief executive Elon Musk 96 million shares worth about $29 billion.
Spotify jumped 6.8 per cent as the music streaming platform announced plans to increase the monthly price of its premium individual subscription in select markets from September.
