Global stocks flat to higher as technology shares recover

Stock indexes globally were flat to higher on Tuesday with technology shares recovering on Wall Street, while the US dollar touched its lowest level since late February.

DUBLIN

Euronext Dublin was flat on the day, although the banks lost a little ground following strong recent performances.

AIB ended the day down 1.3 per cent, while Bank of Ireland was down 1.7 per cent. "The banks were a little weak," noted a trader. "They have had a fairly good run so perhaps they just ran out of steam a little."

DCC was down 1.7 cent despite posting results that showed its adjusted operating profit rose by 7.3 per cent to £530.2 million (€605 million) in its financial year to the end of March, which was £15 million ahead of consensus expectations of analysts.

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“The results read pretty well on the face of it and the stock traded better but unfortunately ran into resistance later in the day,” said a trader.

Ryanair was unchanged, underperforming many of its peers as Easyjet, Lufthansa and Aer Lingus parent International Airlines Group all picked up 2-3 per cent.

“Ryanair had numbers out on Monday and they had a fairly significant run into those so there wasn’t a huge amount to push them on and there were just no buyers around,” a trader noted.

In food, Glanbia was down 1.7 per cent while Greencore was up 1.6 per cent.

LONDON

London’s FTSE 100 was little changed as poor earnings by Vodafone offset gains in bank stocks, while better-than-expected jobs data strengthened views of a stronger economic recovery from a pandemic-driven crash last year.

The blue-chip index rose 0.02 per cent, with banks, mainly HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered gaining between 0.8 per cent and 1.5 per cent.

Mobile operator Vodafone Group fell 8.9 per cent on reporting a 1.2 per cent drop in annual adjusted earnings, as Covid-19 hit roaming revenue and handset sales.

The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index climbed 0.5 per cent.

Among other stocks, Oxford Biomedica gained 10.4 per cent, to the top of the mid-cap index after it doubled the revenue expectation from its Covid-19 vaccine supply deal with drugmaker AstraZeneca.

Imperial Brands rose 1.5 per cent after the tobacco company reiterated its full-year outlook.

EUROPE

European stocks rose, with Germany’s equity index hitting a record high on optimism around several countries easing economic restrictions, falling unemployment rate in the UK and strong earnings reports from companies.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.2 per cent to end just shy of its record high hit last week, with the travel and leisure index leading gains, while technology stocks rose 0.6 per cent. The German Dax hit a record high and Italy’s FTSE MIB added 0.1 per cent.

The world's biggest maker of hearing aids, Sonova Holding, surged 11.5 per cent after predicting strong growth this year due to a market recovery and new products.

Winston cigarettes maker Imperial Brands rose 1.5 per cent after it reiterated its full-year outlook.

NEW YORK

The S&P 500 wavered between slight gains and losses on Tuesday as a sharp decline in telecom stocks and weak housing starts data overshadowed better-than-expected earnings from Walmart and Home Depot.

AT&T shed 5 per cent, the top drag on the benchmark S&P 500, as it extended declines from Monday, when the telecoms firm said it would cut its dividend payout ratio as a result of its $43 billion media asset deal with Discovery.

T-Mobile and Verizon Communications also dropped 2.6 per cent and 1.6 per cent.

The benchmark S&P 500 is about 2 per cent from its all-time high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is about 5 per cent from its April 29th record high. (Additional reporting: Agencies)