Markets

Week closes on positive note as attention turns to US Fedearal Reserve

Expectations mounting of hefty interest rate cut in Washington while Bank of England set to hold fire after last month’s reduction

The scale of next week's expected cut in US interest rates was the key market driver on Friday. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The scale of next week's expected cut in US interest rates was the key market driver on Friday. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Fiona Keeley
Fri Sept 13 2024 - 18:23

Markets ended the week on a positive note as investors look forward increasingly to the expected US interest rate cut next week. In Dublin, Ryanair finished down as the market reacted to the company’s agm on Thursday and Michael O’Leary’s comments.

DUBLIN

Kingspan bounced back on Friday with the shares climbing 1.76 per cent to €79 after a week where the stock had a shaky performance in the wake of the Grenfell report.

Overall, the Irish market closed 0.59 per cent higher on Friday with Ryanair and the banks giving up some ground.

In the transport sector, Ryanair was 0.72 per cent weaker at €15.27. Irish Continental jumped 2.6 per cent to €5.52 but that came after a dip on Thursday in light volume.

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Among the financials, AIB dropped 0.37 per cent to €5.38 while Bank of Ireland fell 0.34 per cent to €9.91.

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Food group Glanbia closed 1.1 per cent higher at €16.21 while hotels group Dalata and Greencoat Renewables gained 1 per cent apiece to finish on €4.01 and 96 cent respectively.

LONDON

Mining stocks lifted London’s blue-chip index as investors raised their bets on a hefty US interest rate cut next week. But the gains were limited as a strong pound weighed on export-oriented companies.

The FTSE 100 edged up 0.2 per cent, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 firmed 0.4 per cent, aiming for its first weekly gain in three.

Investors are also gearing up for the Bank of England’s rate-setting policy meeting next week, at which it is expected to opt for no change, according to all 65 economists in a Reuters poll. The central bank last month eased interest rates by 0.25 of a percentage point to 5 per cent from a 16-year high.

Flutter Entertainment edged lower after the Irish betting giant said it will buy a 56 per cent stake in NSX Group, the operator of Brazilian gaming group Betnacional, for about $350 million.

EUROPE

European stocks rounded off the week on a positive note, as investors shifted their focus to the US Federal Reserve in advance of the long-awaited monetary easing at its meeting next week.

The STOXX 600 index was up 0.7 per cent on the day, giving it a gain of over 1 per cent for the week. German shares outperformed European peers with a nearly 1 per cent jump, boosted by a rise in shares of Siemens Energy and SAP.

France’s CAC 40 rose 0.4 per cent after consumer prices in the region’s second-largest economy rose 2.2 per cent year-on-year in August, in line with its preliminary reading.

NEW YORK

Wall Street’s main indices rose on Friday as investors re-evaluated the likely scale of an interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week, while Photoshop maker Adobe tumbled after forecasting fourth-quarter earnings below estimates.

Traders’ bets of a 50-basis point rate cut jumped overnight and are now standing at 43 per cent compared with 14 per cent on Thursday, CME’s FedWatch Tool showed. Bets on the Fed sticking to a smaller 0.25 per cent cut had firmed on Thursday following a slightly higher producer prices report that followed the August consumer prices data.

All 11 S&P 500 sectors edged higher on Friday, led by a 1.2 per cent rise in materials stocks that tracked an increase in the prices of precious metals.

Meanwhile, a survey showed US consumer sentiment improved in September amid subsiding inflation, though Americans remained cautious in advance of the November presidential election. Additional reporting: Agencies

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