European shares close on record high boosted by US inflation data

European shares closed at a record high on Friday, boosted by cooler than expected U.S. inflation data and hopes of an easing in U.S.-Chinese trade tensions, as investors assessed a slew of corporate earnings.

Dublin

The Irish market ended the week in positive territory, adding 1.4 per cent to close at 11,768.

Banking shares rose, with AIB up 0.7 per cent and Bank of Ireland gaining more than 1.7 per cent by the close of the session. Insurer FBD was up 2.16 per cent.

Building stocks were also up, with insulation specialist Kingspan gaining 2.4 per cent, while home builders Glenveagh and Cairn added 2 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively.

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Ryanair gained strongly, adding 2.3 per cent to finish at €25.70.

Food groups Kerry and Glanbia were slightly off the pace for the day, ending the week in the red. Karry was almost flat, losing 0.6 per cent, while Glanbia was down 0.3 per cent.

London

Britain’s FTSE 100 closed at a record high on Friday, capping a strong week for London equities, as financial stocks gained following upbeat results from NatWest and signs of cooling inflation pressures in the United States.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 finished 0.7 per cent higher at 9,645.62 points, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 gained 0.75 per cent to end at 22,529.02 – a level not seen since early 2022.

Markets were also hopeful that a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week could soothe trade tensions between the two economic powers.

NatWest gained 4.9 per cent to touch its highest since 2008 after the bank reported a 30 per cent rise in third-quarter profit and upgraded its 2025 performance target. The broader banks index gained 1.4 per cent and was among the top sectoral performers.

WH Smith rose 4.2 per cent, among the best FTSE 250 performers, after brokerage Peel Hunt upgraded the travel retailer to “buy” from “hold”.

London Stock Exchange Group rose 4.8 per cent after at least three brokerages raised target prices following upbeat third-quarter results on Thursday.

Europe

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index closed up 0.2 per cent. The STOXX 600 was up over the week, driven by consumer-facing stocks.

Industrial companies provided the biggest boost, up 0.7 per cent. Lifco gained 10 per cent after posting third-quarter results above estimates, while Saab added 6.1 per cent after the defence group raised its full-year organic sales growth forecast.

Heavyweights including Siemens Energy and Schneider also climbed.

On the downside, Signify dropped 9.4 per cent after the world’s biggest lighting products maker reported a steeper than expected drop in third-quarter sales.

However, Valeo jumped 10.8 per cent to top the index after its quarterly results, while Sanofi rose 2.5 per cent after its third-quarter profit beat expectations.

New York

Wall Street cruised to record highs on Friday, buoyed by cooler inflation data that strengthened expectations of faster rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, while Intel’s upbeat earnings kept momentum in AI-related stocks alive.

By late morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 515.91 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 47,249.67. The S&P 500 gained 67.28 points, or 1 per cent, to 6,805.71, and the Nasdaq Composite added 294.75 points, or 1.29 per cent, to 23,236.55.

S&P 500 and Nasdaq were on track for their best weekly run in more than two months, while the Dow was eyeing its strongest week in nearly four months.

Intel was up 0.7 per cent after topping third-quarter profit estimates.

AMD and Micron climbed 6.7 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively, while Nvidia was up 1.8 per cent. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index added 2.2 per cent to surpass Monday’s record.

Alphabet rose 2.9 per cent after Anthropic said it would use tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Google’s AI chips to train its Claude chatbot. The communications services index gained 1.2 per cent.

Consumer goods bellwether Procter & Gamble topped first-quarter estimates on strong demand for its beauty and haircare products, sending its shares up 1 per cent.

Financials were also a boost, gaining 1.2 per cent. Coinbase Global rose 7.9 per cent after JP Morgan upgraded rating on the stock to “overweight” from “neutral”. – Additional reporting: Reuters