Strength in commodity-linked sectors helped European stocks inch up to a record high close on Monday, although broader gains were stifled by some weak earnings and a lack of any major market cues.
Oil and base metal prices rose on the prospect of increasing demand. A survey also showed investor morale in the euro zone has risen for the first time since July, with investors expecting supply bottlenecks and higher prices to hold back the economy only temporarily.
DUBLIN
The Iseq added 0.3 per cent on a subdued day for markets, lifted by a 2.1 per cent climb for building materials group CRH, the largest stock on the index, which finished up at €43.83 as the US passed a massive infrastructure bill.
This was offset somewhat by falls for Ryanair and Paddy Power-owner Flutter Entertainment. The airline's stock declined more than 1 per cent to €17.93 on a weak day for travel shares, while the bookmaker also slipped into the red, finishing down 0.7 per cent at €146.25 on its Dublin listing and also sliding in London.
The banks advanced, with Bank of Ireland up 1.3 per cent at €5.32 and AIB rising 0.3 per cent to €2.37.
Food group Glanbia was also among the gainers, adding 0.6 per cent to close at €13.52.
LONDON
The FTSE 100 edged lower as gains in miners were offset by weakness in consumer-focused and travel stocks.
The blue-chip index ended 0.05 per cent lower, with large dollar earners, including Unilever, British American Tobacco and Diageo, down between 0.4 per cent and 1 per cent, hit by sterling's strong gains.
The FTSE 250 mid-cap index was down 0.1 per cent, dragged by weakness in travel and leisure shares.
Travel and leisure stocks fell 1.2 per cent, with Aer Lingus's owner IAG and Flutter Entertainment among the top drags on the FTSE 100.
Online gambling company Playtech rose 2.4 per cent after it received a takeover offer from its second-biggest shareholder, Gopher Investments, on Sunday. British defence company BAE Systems slipped 0.5 per cent even after it stuck to its guidance for earnings growth.
Abrdn jumped 3.6 per cent after Sky News reported on Saturday that the asset manager was in advanced talks to buy Interactive Investor, an online investment service.
EUROPE
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed marginally higher at 483.61 points, with basic resources and energy stocks leading gains. In Germany the Dax was slightly negative, while in France the Cac 40 was up just 0.1 per cent.
Among individual stocks French conglomerate Bouygues shed 5.8 per cent following its €7.1 billion deal to buy technical services group Equans from Engie.
Consumer goods group Henkel dropped 6.5 per cent and was the worst performer on the Stoxx 600 after trimming its full-year forecast and saying it could not fully compensate for a spike in input prices.
Richemont advanced 2.8 per cent after news reports that activist hedge fund Third Point had built a stake in the luxury goods firm.
Frankfurt-listed shares of Tesla dropped 3.5 per cent.
US
The Dow hit a record high in the first half of the session as the passage of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill lifted industrials, materials and other economy-focused sectors, while Tesla fell on top boss Elon Musk's plan to sell about a tenth of his stake.
The electric vehicle-maker dropped 3 per cent after Musk tweeted on Saturday he would sell 10 per cent of his holdings if users of the social media network approved the proposal. Around 57.9 per cent voted in favour.
Advanced Micro Devices jumped 9 per cent after it signed up Meta Platforms as a data centre chip customer and announced new supercomputing chips to take on its bigger rival Nvidia.
Shares of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms rose as ether scaled new peaks and bitcoin neared a record high.
– Additional reporting: Reuters
