Global shares buoyed by upbeat corporate earnings

Shares around the world gained on Tuesday, with upbeat corporate earnings buoying European shares, though investor concerns lingered over supply chain problems sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.

DUBLIN

Euronext Dublin was up almost 1 per cent as some of the market’s heavy hitters lifted the index.

The biggest player on the index, building materials giant CRH, was up 0.6 per cent on the day. Staying with construction, insulation specialist Kingspan was flat on the day.

Packaging company Smurfit Kappa was up 1.5 per cent, buoyed by positive results posted by Packaging Corp Operation of America.

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Among the banks, Bank of Ireland was down about 1 per cent, while AIB performed slightly better, although volumes were low on both counts.

Ryanair was up 1.5 per cent as the transport and leisure sector enjoyed a positive day.

Elsewhere, Paddy Power Betfair owner Flutter Entertainment was up 3 per cent as gambling firm Entain slumped after US rival DraftKings walked away from its £16 billion approach to buy the Ladbrokes owner.

LONDON

The Ftse 100 hit another 20-month high as London’s market was boosted by strong showings by consumer, travel and services firms.

Commodity businesses regressed after their gains in Monday’s session but wider improvement in sentiment, and a number of strong trading updates, helped spark a flurry of excitement among traders. London’s top flight closed 0.76 per cent higher.

Online retail group THG's recent frustrations continued as shares slid again after its latest attempt to ease investor worries.

THG confirmed that it had hired recruitment firm Russell Reynolds to find an independent non-executive chairman as part of plans to move the firm to a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange and improve its corporate governance.

However, the announcement and an upbeat trading update failed to improve sentiment, with its shares dropping by 64.8p to 242p by the end of the session.

EUROPE

European stocks hit a more-than-two-month high, ending just below record levels as strong results from UBS, Reckitt Benckiser and others added to overall optimism about the third-quarter earnings season.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.8 per cent to 475.74 points, its highest closing level since a record-high finish of 475.83 in August.

Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 gained 1.0 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.

European travel and leisure stocks were the best performers for the day, adding 1.9 per cent on gains in hotel operator Whitbread.

The stock surged 4.4 per cent after it reported a smaller half-year loss and predicted a full recovery at its UK hotels in 2022.

Swiss drugmaker Novartis rose 1.1 per cent after reporting a rise in adjusted operating profit and forecasting higher peak sales for its two best-selling pharmaceuticals.

Among decliners, computer peripherals maker Logitech International slumped 4.3 per cent after it confirmed full-year earnings outlook and warned of supply chain disruptions.

French telecoms operator Orange fell 1.7 per cent after saying its third-quarter profit was hit by a drop in co-financing returns.

NEW YORK

Gains in Tesla, Nvidia and other heavyweight technology names helped the benchmark S&P 500 index scale a record high on Tuesday, while upbeat results from United Parcel Service and General Electric added to optimism around the third-quarter earnings season.

Tesla rose 1 per cent, extending a record run that helped the electric-car maker surpass $1 trillion in market value on Monday after landing its biggest-ever order from rental car company Hertz.

Nvidia was up 6.8 per cent and hit an all-time high, while gains in mega-cap growth names such as Amazon.com , Apple, Google-owner Alphabet and Microsoft gave a boost to the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

UPS surged 7.6 per cent to top the S&P 500 index after the delivery firm reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, bolstered by strong ecommerce demand.

General Electric rose 2.6 per cent after the industrial conglomerate raised its full-year earnings forecast.

Shares of Hasbro climbed 3.7 per cent after the toy maker posted an upbeat third-quarter profit even as it warned of a hit to holiday sales from supply chain issues.