Shares around the world fell while Treasury yields rose on Friday, as markets approached the end of a turbulent week marked by a global push by central banks to quell inflation.
Oil prices pared earlier losses on Friday as markets assessed Saudi supply alongside concerns about a widening Middle East conflict.
DUBLIN
The Irish market ended the week in the red, declining just under 1 per cent on Friday afternoon, bringing the total loss for the week to 1.25 per cent.
Banking shares edged lower, with AIB down 0.4 per cent and Bank of Ireland off by more than half a per cent. Insurer FBD was almost 3 per cent lower over the day.
RM Block
Shares in Glanbia continued to decline on Friday, following Bank of America’s negative view of the nutrition group’s stock that sent prices spiralling. In a note from analysts on Thursday morning, Bank of America said it could not rule out the reversal of the so-called proteinmaxxing trend, with a switch toward other ingredients such as fibre, creatine or even peptide. Stocks ended the day at €18.83, down more than 5 per cent on the day and more than 12.6 per cent over the week.
Construction stocks were also lower, with home builders Cairn and Glenveagh down 2.4 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.
Ryanair was largely flat on the day, bringing the stock to a 1.4 per cent increase for the week.
LONDON
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 1.4 per cent lower at 10,659.13 points, logging a small weekly gain. The midcap FTSE 250 finished 0.6 per cent lower on the day, but still recorded its sharpest weekly rise since early August.
Banks lost 2.1 per cent, with Lloyds and HSBC falling 2.9 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively.
In telecoms, Airtel Africa lost 11.3 per cent after a report said its Airtel Money was considering downsizing its London IPO.
Among individual stocks, Softcat was among the top losers on the FTSE 250 index with a near 4 per cent fall after the IT firm agreed to buy US-based GDT at an enterprise value of $1.05 billion.
EUROPE
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 1.1 per cent, giving up almost all the gains made in the last two sessions. It was down 0.6 per cent for the week.
Regional bourses also ended the session in the red, with London’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX down 1.5 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively.
The automobile and parts sector fell 3.4 per cent, with Volkswagen leading the losses in its biggest one-day drop since September 2025, down 5.6 per cent.
Food and beverages lost 1.9 per cent, with Nestlé down 2.6 per cent after Russia seized control of the Swiss food giant’s local assets.
NEW YORK
Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Friday in the final stretch of a turbulent week, as investors digested shifting oil prices, higher Treasury yields and a Federal Reserve rate hike.
At 11.29am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.36 per cent to 51,591.86, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were little changed.
Xenon Pharmaceuticals tumbled more than 29 per cent after it temporarily paused enrolment in tests for its experimental drug for major and bipolar depression following reports of side effects.
Berkshire Hathaway said former chief executive Warren Buffett will step down as chairman and become chairman emeritus, effective immediately. Class B shares of the company were 0.3 per cent lower.
Treasuries fell as anticipation of additional Federal Reserve interest rate hikes stoked interest in wagers on rising yields for short-maturity debt.
The sell-off lifted yields on two- to five-year notes by at least seven basis points, while longer-maturity yields rose less. The two-year yield rose to 4.74 per cent, the highest since July 2024, slightly exceeding the level reached Wednesday after Fed policymakers raised interest rates and investors inferred from comments by chairman Kevin Warsh that at least one additional increase is likely this year.
Interest-rate strategists at Bank of America recommended that their customers wager on further increases in US short-term rates via a short position in two-year Treasury notes. The yield has scope to increase by about half a percentage point to 5.25 per cent, they wrote.
Crypto stocks also rose, with Coinbase, Strategy and Robinhood gaining 10 per cent, 12 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively. A sharp gain in bitcoin took it past $80,000.
– Additional reporting: Reuters
