European stocks kicked off the final quarter on a negative note as higher bond yields pressured equities and as data showed factory activity in the euro zone remained in a broad-based downturn.
DUBLIN
The Irish index of shares followed its European peers, starting the week on a negative note as banking stocks, food and property shares dipped lower.
Bank of Ireland declined 1.7 per cent to €9.13, while AIB was off almost 3.4 per cent to close the day at €4.116.
Both Kerry and Glanbia fell, with the latter down 1.6 per cent and the former losing 1.4 per cent.
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Insulation specialist Kingspan was down 2.45 per cent over the day, closing at €69.22, and home builders Cairn and Glenveagh were down 0.91 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively.
Shares in Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment dipped as low at €152, before regaining some ground to €152.85.
There were a few green shoots on the day, with ferries group Irish Continental up 0.67 per cent to €4.50, although volumes were reasonably light. Datalex also showed some gains, closing 1.7 per cent higher.
LONDON
London stocks gave up early gains and closed lower on Monday as rising yields pushed equities down.
The exporter-heavy FTSE 100 fell 1.3 per cent amid holiday-thinned trade in some markets including top commodities consumer China.
Shares in the banking and insurance sectors fell 1.4 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively, weighing on the index.
NatWest shed 3.4 per cent after brokerage Morgan Stanley downgraded the lender to “equal weight” from “overweight”.
Meanwhile, BAE Systems added 1.1 per cent after Britain awarded the defence firm a £4 billion contract as part of the AUKUS programme with Australia and the United States to build attack submarines.
Pennon Group rose 3.8 per cent and United Utilities inched 0.3 per cent up after the water companies outlined their respective investment plans over the next five-year regulatory period.
Among small caps, XP Power sank 51.8 per cent after the provider of power converters issued a profit warning.
EUROPE
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index reversed early gains to fall 1.0 per cent on Monday, hitting its lowest intra-day low since the end of March.
All European indexes traded in the red, with Germany’s DAX index down 0.9 per cent.
Voucher and card provider Edenred plunged 11 per cent to the bottom of the Stoxx 600, after a French minister’s comments on a possible commissions cap on meal vouchers in France.
Shares of peer Sodexo also lost 3.3 per cent.
The benchmark Stoxx 600 marked its first quarterly decline of the year on Friday, dented by concerns about a sputtering Chinese economy and interest rates staying elevated for longer.
Among other stocks, debt-burdened Casino slid 7.5 per cent after the French retailer said it had completed the sale of a first set of 61 stores in France to Groupement Les Mousquetaires and extended its purchasing alliance to include private-label food products.
Swiss-listed sensor maker Ams Osram jumped 3.8 per cent after Jefferies said that demand trends will “progressively improve” over the next two years, even as it cut its price target on the stock.
NEW YORK
The Nasdaq rose on Monday, boosted by gains in growth stocks as investors awaited commentary from more Federal Reserve officials and economic data this week to gauge the central bank’s interest-rate path.
Nvidia jumped 2.8 per cent after Goldman Sachs added the chipmaker’s stock to its conviction list, while Tesla was up 0.5 per cent after falling as much as 3 per cent.
Other megacap stocks including Apple, Meta Platforms, Amazon.com, Alphabet and Microsoft advanced between 0.9 per cent and 1.9 per cent.
At 11.59am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 186.11 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 33,321.39, the S&P 500 was down 14.63 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 4,273.42, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 47.20 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 13,266.53.
Viatris added 3.1 per cent after the drugmaker on Sunday said it had reached agreements to divest some of its businesses for up to $3.6 billion earlier in the session as it missed market estimates for third-quarter deliveries.
– Additional reporting: Reuters
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