Global equity indexes fell on Friday while bond yields soared as investor euphoria over tech stocks gave way to inflation fears and traders increased their bets that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates this year.
Markets were spooked by the prospect of escalation in the Iran conflict after US president Donald Trump said his patience with Tehran was running out.
Oil prices rose, with Brent crude futures rising more than 2 per cent on the day.
Dublin
The Irish market ended the week 1.5 per cent lower, with declines in financial stocks weighing on the market. Insurer FBD was down 1.5 per cent by the close of the session, while Bank of Ireland shed 1.7 per cent. AIB fared slightly better, at 0.4 per cent down, but still ended the week marginally lower.
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Kerry Group and Glanbia were both off the pace, down 0.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.
Insulation specialist Kingspan declined almost 4 per cent, while home builders Glenveagh and Cairn were down around 1.7 per cent each.
Airline Ryanair was off almost 2 per cent, with Irish Continental not far behind.
[ Oil extends gain as Trump casts doubt over ceasefire with IranOpens in new window ]
London
British equities dropped on Friday along with bonds and the pound as investors weighed a possible leadership challenge to British prime minister Keir Starmer from Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, while also worrying about inflation risks.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 1.7 per cent lower at 10,195.37 points, its biggest one-day fall in over eight weeks, for a fourth straight weekly loss. The midcap FTSE 250 shed 1 per cent.
Among single stocks, Hiscox jumped 12.3 per cent following media reports that Canada-based Intact Financial Corp was exploring a potential bid for the British insurer.
[ European shares close flat as oil prices riseOpens in new window ]
Europe
Europe’s STOXX 600 slid and logged weekly losses on Friday amid concerns over energy-induced inflation pressures.
The pan-European benchmark closed down 1.5 per cent at 606.92 points, snapping two straight days of gains. Germany’s DAX declined the most among regional bourses, down 2.1 per cent on Friday.
Semiconductor firms paused their recent rally, with ASML, and Aixtron down 4.4 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.
Economically sensitive cyclical sectors also came under pressure, with banks dropping 6 per cent as BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank lost 3 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively.
Among others, LVMH dipped 1.1 per cent after the conglomerate agreed to sell fashion brand Marc Jacobs.
Stellantis fell 4.2 per cent after the carmaker signed a roughly €1 billion deal with China’s Dongfeng to produce Peugeot- and Jeep-branded vehicles.
Bucking the trend, Technoprobe soared 32.3 per cent after the Italian semiconductor firm upgraded its 2026 outlook.
New York
Wall Street’s main indexes pulled back sharply on Friday, as inflation fears triggered by the Middle East conflict drove up treasury yields and threatened to derail an AI-fuelled rally that had driven stocks to record highs.
By late morning the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 519.39 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 49,544.07, the S&P 500 lost 79.60 points, or 1.06 per cent, to 7,421.64 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 360.56 points, or 1.35 per cent, to 26,274.66.
The energy sector was the lone gainer, rising 1.4 per cent, while all other sectors traded lower, led by losses in technology.
Recently strong chip stocks came under pressure with Nvidia and AMD each falling more than 3 per cent, while Intel dropped 6.5 per cent.
Among major movers, Microsoft added 3.6 per cent. Bill Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square will disclose a new position in the company later on Friday, the billionaire investor said.
Dexcom jumped 6.7 per cent. The medical device maker said it will appoint two independent directors and revamp a key board committee in collaboration with activist investor Elliott Investment Management. – Additional reporting: Reuters
