Mixed bag for markets ahead of Easter break

European stocks edged higher on Thursday in advance of Friday’s market holiday and with investors waiting to digest key US labour data.

In the US, stocks were trending lower by closing bell in Dublin after weak economic data.

Dublin

Irish shares recovered somewhat in advance of the long weekend with the Iseq index up more than 1 per cent after tumbling 2.1 per cent in what traders in Dublin described as “a topsy turvy session” on Wednesday. Pulled higher by some of the bigger names, the Irish index slightly outperformed some of the bigger European indices.

AIB and Bank of Ireland were trading at €3.71 and €9.39 heading into the Easter break, up 2.7 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively.

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Kerry Group maintained its very recent winning streak, adding 2.1 per cent to its share price to close at €93.74. Ahead of a busy weekend of betting with the US Masters kicking off in Augusta, Flutter was another big name to finish in green on Thursday, up 1.9 per cent to €168.10 per share. After tumbling 5.6 per cent in the previous session, building materials giant CRH was essentially flat at €43.34.

Shares in Kingspan, meanwhile, remained under pressure falling another 1 per cent to €55.92 per share in trading after a 7.2 per cent drop on Wednesday. Builders Cairn Homes and Glenveagh were also down 1.2 per cent and 1.7 per cent after recent house price data releases.

London

Both the blue-chip FTSE 100 and the mid-cap FTSE 250 indices were up around 1 per cent, capping off three weeks of consecutive gains.

Tui was the biggest winner, adding close to 12 per cent after reporting strong Easter bookings to sunshine destinations including the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean. The package holiday operator said more than 500,000 people are heading on holiday with Tui over Easter and with its load factor expected to be 95 per cent, similar to pre-pandemic levels despite the ongoing cost of living squeeze.

UK home builder stocks rose 0.4 per cent as mortgage lender Halifax said house prices rose for the third month in a row in March, up 0.8 per cent from February compared with economists’ forecast of a 0.3 per cent drop.

Shares in developer Hammerson added more than 5.7 per cent while Landsec’s shares rose 3.4 per cent.

It was a mixed bag for the oil majors, however, with Shell up 2.3 per cent as the energy giant forecast higher liquefied natural gas output. Shares in its rival BP slipped 0.3 per cent after recent gains.

Europe

European stocks advanced before the Easter holiday as traders awaited US jobs data to assess their impact on Federal Reserve monetary policy.

The Stoxx 600 rose 0.5 per cent while the blue-chop Stoxx 50 was up by 0.2 per cent. Real estate, banks and insurance outperformed while consumer products stocks were laggards.

Swiss enterprise software company Temenos climbed after Bloomberg reported it asked for fresh expressions of interest from potential suitors in recent weeks after takeover talks fell apart last year over price.

Luxury names L’Oreal, Hermés and LVMH, all down by between 1.8 and 3.2 per cent, came under pressure despite recent gains. Cartier owner Richemont also fell 2.4 per cent.

Moving in the other direction were banks including ING, BNP Paribas, Intesa Sanpaolo and BBVA, which added between 1.8 per cent and 3.1 per cent.

New York

US stocks headed lower and Treasury yields halted their plunge, as investors digested weak labour market data and looked to Friday’s jobs report for signs the Federal Reserve’s restrictive policy could be edging the economy closer to recession.

All three major US stock indexes were red, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on course to snap three-week winning streaks at the conclusion of the holiday-shortened week. Economic data released on Thursday suggested the labour market is feeling the effects of the Federal Reserve’s string of hawkish interest rate hikes in its attempt to cool down the economy and, in so doing, rein in inflation.

AMC Entertainment jumped 8.6 per cent after a US court denied the theatre operator’s request to lift a status quo order necessary for its stock conversion plan.

Levi Strauss & Co fell 12.7 per cent after the apparel maker posted a fall in quarterly profit. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters