European shares hit two-week high

European shares closed at a two-week high on Monday, boosted by miners as an easing of Covid-19 restrictions in China lifted global sentiment. Shanghai declared victory over the spread of the disease, assuaging some worries about the hit to growth in the world second-largest economy.

Dublin

The Dublin market rose 0.55 per cent, ending the first session of the week in positive territory.

Shares in AIB gained just over half a per cent, while Bank of Ireland saw its stock decline almost 2.5 per cent to €6.23. The Government on Monday announced the sale of a further 5 per cent of its shareholding in AIB, worth about €300 million. Permanent TSB saw the steepest decline, losing 4 per cent to €4.06 by the closing bell.

Glanbia gained 3.78 per cent, ending the day at €10.97, while Kerry Group added almost 1 per cent over the session.

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Insulation specialist Kingspan added 3.2 per cent to close at €61.06.

London

London’s markets moved steadily higher as investors ignored recent concerns over interest rate rises and the potential for recession.

The FTSE 100 ended the day up 49.51 points, or 0.69 per cent, at 7,258.32.

In company news, fintech firm Wise closed in the red after it confirmed its co-founder and chief executive is being investigated by the City watchdog over his status as a so-called deliberate tax defaulter. Wise said the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had launched an inquiry into Kristo Kaarmann’s “regulatory obligations and standards”. Shares in the company slipped by 8.4p to 373.1p following the announcement.

Elsewhere, residential care operators Caretech leapt in value after it agreed to a £870 million takeover by a consortium including the brothers who founded the firm.

The Hertfordshire-based company told shareholders it agreed to the buyout by Amalfi – the consortium including founders Haroun and Farouq Sheikh – after they sweetened a previous approach in an effort to shake off rival interest from a private-equity firm.

Caretech was 129p higher at 741p at the close of play.

Imperial Leather manufacturer PZ Cussons made gains after it said it was on track for full-year like-for-like sales to lift 3 per cent, but cautioned that trading conditions remained “challenging”. Shares increased by 3.6p to 201p as the group said trading in the latest quarter was “in line with expectations”.

Europe

The Stoxx 600 extended Friday’s gains, rising 0.5 per cent as traders scaled back bets on aggressive interest rate hikes by major central banks on worries about inflation and recent easing in commodity prices.

Mining stocks jumped 1.8 per cent to lead gains among sectors, while industrial and healthcare stocks were the biggest boosts to the pan-region index.

Trading has remained volatile in recent days as investors try to assess the impact from rising interest rates globally and soaring price pressures on corporate earnings and economic growth.

Most regional bourses rose on Monday, but a drop in utilities hit Italy’s MIB, which slid 0.9 per cent. Lingering worries about inflation were evident as investors sold luxury shares after brokerages cut price targets on several of them. France’s CAC 40, packed with luxury names, fell 0.4 per cent.

Prosus jumped 15.7 per cent after the technology investor said it would gradually sell its 28.9 per cent stake in Chinese software giant Tencent, worth more than $100 billion at current prices. It also announced a share buyback.

New York

The Nasdaq Composite index fell by midday trading on Monday, dragged down by high-growth stocks as last week’s rally on easing concerns over inflation lost steam, while recovering oil prices boosted shares of energy firms.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index, which gained 7.5 per cent last week, fell 0.3 per cent, the only decliner among the three major indexes.

Oil prices also moved back into positive territory, pushing up the S&P 500 energy index by 2.5 per cent, reining in expectations for inflation falling on the back of lower energy prices.

At 12:15pm ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 16.97 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 31,517.65, the S&P 500 was up 9.75 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 3,921.49, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 39.09 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 11,568.53.

Shares of Robinhood Markets rose 3.3 per cent after Goldman Sachs upgraded the retail broker’s stock to “neutral” from “sell”.

Goldman Sachs, however, cut its rating on Coinbase Global Inc to “sell” from “buy”, sending shares of the cryptocurrency exchange lower by 8.7 per cent. – Additional reporting: Reuters