Iseq lags slightly as European markets recover following Monday’s battering

European stocks rose from two-month lows on Tuesday as bargain-hunters returned to buy beaten-down shares following a bruising sell-off on worries about a sharp slowdown in global economic growth.

But in the United States, Wall Street’s main indexes fell in volatile trading, dragged down by banks and some megacap growth stocks as investors fretted over prospects of aggressive monetary tightening.

Dublin

The Iseq index lagged many of its European peers with an anaemic rise of less than 0.1 per cent, held back by underperforming property and bank stocks.

The country's biggest hotel group, Dalata, fell sharply despite news that the Government has decided to extend to sector's special 9 per cent VAT rate to early 2023. Tourism industry lobbyists were seeking a longer extension. Dalata closed down 3.3 per cent to €3.85.

Nasdaq closes down 5% in sharpest fall since 2020

---

European shares drop on disappointing earnings and Fed fears

---

Central Bank doubles gold reserves holdings in 12 months

---

Asia markets slide after Wall Street’s steepest sell-off since 2020

---

The two big banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, also fell close to 1 per cent each. AIB closed at €2.04 while BoI was down to €5.38, as it continues the search for a successor to outgoing chief executive Francesca McDonagh.

Tullow Oil was up 3.6 per cent to €0.65 per share.

London

The FTSE 100 rose, boosted by financials and healthcare stocks, a day after worries around recession risks, higher interest rates, and extended Covid-19 lockdowns in China triggered a bruising sell-off.

The FTSE 100 ended 0.4 per cent higher, after falling more than 1.5 per cent in each of the previous two sessions.

Banking stocks gained 0.3 per cent, after declining more than 2 per cent on Monday, while life insurers climbed 1 per cent. Drugmakers AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline were among top gainers, while consumer staples stock Unilever rose 1.8 per cent.

London’s Heathrow increased its 2022 passenger forecast by 16 per cent to nearly 53 million, driven by outbound holidaymakers. That helped travel and leisure stocks gain 0.3 per cent.

Among individual movers, Renishaw slid 3.2 per cent as the engineering firm lowered its annual profit forecast over uncertainties in global trade and warned of potential disruption to its business from Covid-19 lockdowns in China.

Europe

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.7 per cent, with almost all sectors in positive territory.

Swedish Match surged 24.9 per cent after US tobacco company Philip Morris International said it was in talks to buy the smaller rival.

Agriculture and pharmaceuticals company Bayer jumped 5.4 per cent after better-than-expected quarterly adjusted earnings on strong gains at its seeds and pesticides business.

Norwegian aerospace and defence company Kongsberg Gruppen slid 18.9 per cent after reporting a fall in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation due to logistics challenges and component shortages.

French carmaker Renault Group dipped 0.4 per cent, giving back gains after China's Geely Automobile Holdings agreed to acquire about 34 per cent of Renault Korea Motors for 264 billion won (€195 million)

New York

Heading into afternoon trading, eight of the 11 major S&P sectors had declined, led by a 1.3 per cent fall in financial stocks and a 2.4 per cent dip in real-estate shares.

Banks dropped 2.3 per cent, with JP Morgan Chase & Co down 2.4 per cent to weigh the most on the S&P 500 index.

After rising as much as 2.8 per cent earlier in the session, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was flat. Shares of Apple, Google owner Alphabet and Microsoft rose more than 1 per cent each, while Amazon. com and Tesla fell 0.6 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.

Novavax slid 6.6 per cent after the vaccine maker revealed a sharp drop in first-quarter Covid-19 research funding and said it shipped less than a quarter of the total vaccine deliveries slated for 2022.

Peloton Interactive tumbled 13.4 per cent as the fitness equipment maker warned the business was "thinly capitalised" after it posted a 23.6 per cent slide in quarterly revenue. – Additional reporting: Reuters