European shares gain on foot of rate cut hopes

European shares rose on Friday after softer US inflation data spurred hopes of interest rates cuts by the Federal Reserve, while June rate cut bets for the euro zone remained intact despite hotter than expected inflation figures from the region.

Dublin

Dublin stocks closed lower on Friday, losing 0.24 per cent as heavyweights such as Smurfit Kappa and Kingspan shed some value. The Euronext Dublin dropped to 9,940 by the close of the session.

Kingspan saw its stock fall 2.43 per cent to end at €88.20, while Smurfit Kappa fell 1.7 per cent to €44.70.

Shares in Bank of Ireland and AIB were marginally higher, finishing 0.7 per cent and 0.1 per cent higher respectively. Ryanair also ended the session in positive territory, adding almost 1 per cent to its share price.

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London

London stocks closed higher on Friday, logging a third straight month of gains, as investors cheered an in-line inflation reading from the US that brought back some hopes of a September rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.5 per cent, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was up 0.3 per cent. Both indexes logged a third straight month of gains despite ending the week lower.

Energy infrastructure operator National Grid topped the FTSE 100 with a 4.7 per cent rise.

Amid the broader gains the construction and materials sector declined 0.9 per cent, the most among sectors.

JD Sports Fashion was the top loser on the benchmark index, sliding 4.7 per cent after the sportswear retailer kept its profit outlook unchanged.

Aston Martin ended among the top gainers of the FTSE 250 index with a 4.7 per cent rise after a report said that it had delayed the launch of its EV until at least 2026.

Europe

The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.3 per cent higher, but still recorded a second week of declines as euro zone bond yields spiked to mirror their US counterparts on worries over interest rates remaining elevated. The index was up for the month, however.

Most of the major STOXX 600 sectors ended higher, with healthcare leading the way with an 1.1 per cent advance, though a 1.5 per cent tumble in technology stocks limited gains.

Among headlining stocks Airbus fell 2 per cent after industry sources said the planemaker is facing new pressure on its planned production ramp-up for passenger jets.

IT services firm Capgemini fell 4.5 per cent after at least two brokerages downgraded their rating on the stock.

New York

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gave up early gains on Friday and were set to snap their five-week winning streaks as investors evaluated the timing of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve following an inflation report largely in line with estimates.

After opening marginally higher the indexes dropped to a two-week low, weighed by megacap growth names such as Alphabet, Amazon.com and Nvidia, which lost between 1.1 per cent and 2.6 per cent.

Shares in Paddy Power-owner Flutter Entertainment rose 1.74 per cent, a day after the company confirmed it would move jobs from Dublin and Romania to other locations as part of a “strategic” move. Flutter recently moved its headquarters to the United States as it prepared to shift its primary stock exchange listing to New York.

The blue-chip Dow fared better than its peers, helped by healthcare stocks. The S&P 500 healthcare sector was among the gainers, up 0.7 per cent, along with real estate’s 1.2 per cent rise.

Among big movers Dell plummeted 22 per cent after it forecast current-quarter profit below market estimates and signalled that higher costs to build servers that meet heavy AI workloads would dent its annual margins.

Gap surged 24.2 per cent after the apparel-maker raised its annual sales forecast and its first-quarter results beat market expectations in fresh signs that its turnaround strategy was starting to work.

Trump Media & Technology Group fell 5.4 per cent after a New York jury convicted former president Donald Trump of falsifying documents to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star ahead of the 2016 elections. – Additional reporting: Reuters

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