European shares ended Monday’s volatile session higher, bouncing back from declines in the previous week, as investors weighed developments in the Middle East amid rising concern over oil-price-driven inflation and its impact on global economic growth.
Oil prices moved higher, with Brent crude up 1.4 per cent. Prices had briefly turned lower earlier in a volatile session after a report said the US had proposed a temporary waiver on Iranian oil sanctions.
DUBLIN
The Irish index of shares started the week in positive territory, gaining almost 1.7 per cent over the day.
Ryanair surged 4.9 per cent after the airline said the risk of a jet fuel shortage forcing it to axe services was “almost zero” as Europe secured extra jet fuel deliveries from the Americas, west Africa and Norway.
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Banking shares climbed over the session, with AIB up almost 1 per cent and Bank of Ireland gaining 0.9 per cent.
Food companies also added value by the close of the session. Glanbia and Kerry Group were both higher, with the latter gaining 0.7 per cent and the former adding 1.7 per cent.
Insulation specialist Kingspan ended the day 0.7 per cent higher, but home builders Glenveagh and Cairn Homes both declined more than than 1 per cent.
LONDON
The FTSE 100 ended 1.3 per cent higher at 10,323.8 points, while the FTSE 250 ended 0.07 per cent lower after falling as much 0.7 per cent earlier in the day.
British prime minister Keir Starmer has dug his heels in despite intense pressure following a set of poor local election results earlier this month.
With shipping through the Strait of Hormuz still disrupted, inflation worries have gripped markets, particularly as oil prices stay elevated.
Home builder stocks dropped 0.5 per cent. Asking prices for British homes in May rose by more than usual for the time of year, property website Rightmove said.
Bank stocks climbed 1 per cent as the finance ministry laid out planned changes to ring-fencing rules, which it said would create a “more agile and proportionate regime”.
EUROPE
The pan-European Stoxx 600 finished up 0.5 per cent at 610.17 points, recovering from a nearly 0.9 per cent drop earlier in the session. The index logged its first weekly decline since mid-April on Friday.
The media index led sectoral gains with a 2.5 per cent rise. Publicis added 6 per cent after the advertising group agreed to acquire US data collaboration company LiveRamp in an all-cash deal of about $2.2 billion.
Germany’s DAX index led gains among regional bourses, with Deutsche Boerse up 4.6 per cent after the stock exchange operator said it welcomed investor TCI taking a stake, a move that marks the hedge fund’s return as a large investor in the company.
Commerzbank ended 1.5 per cent lower after the lender formally rejected an offer by Italy’s UniCredit.
NEW YORK
US stock indexes extended losses on Monday, with the Nasdaq leading declines as semiconductor shares came under pressure.
At 12.04pm ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.09 per cent, to 49,479.90, the S&P 500 lost 0.42 per cent, to 7,377.08 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.84 per cent to 26,003.96.
In other movers on the day, Dominion Energy jumped 9.2 per cent after power firm NextEra Energy said it would buy the smaller utility in an all-stock deal valued at about $66.8 billion. NextEra’s shares fell 5.8 per cent.
Shares of Regeneron tumbled 10.2 per cent as the drugmaker’s experimental treatment missed the main goal in a late-stage trial in patients with advanced melanoma, a type of skin cancer. – Additional reporting by Reuters
