Ryanair and other airlines defy rising oil prices

Global markets yesterday were categorised by rising oil prices, the weekend’s cyber attack, and political elections in Germany and France, but there was no major movement for the Iseq index.

Dublin

It was a "pretty quiet" day for the Irish markets yesterday, according to a Davy analyst, but airlines including Ryanair performed well despite strong oil prices.

“It’s unusual with the move in oil that airlines would be doing much better but that was the case,” said the analyst. Ryanair was up 2.5 per cent.

Cybersecurity stocks rise after global ‘ransomware’ attack

---

Providence Resources appoints new non-executive director

---

Record $6bn pours into Europe stock funds after Macron win

---

European stocks advance after biggest drop since April

---

US real-estate group Kennedy Wilson announced that JP Morgan had acquired a 12,000sq m (130,000sq ft) building in Dublin to provide the investment bank with the capacity to double its Irish work force to 1,000.

However, the announcement had little impact on the markets. “There wasn’t a huge amount of interest following on from it,” said Davy. “Green Reit ended up flat for the day. Hibernia Reit was up just over 0.5 per cent in line with the markets.”

Among the other main movers was drinks company C&C, which saw its stock fall 1.5 per cent. The company is to publish results on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Kingspan was down 0.5 per cent, while Bank of Ireland and Glanbia ended the day flat. Building materials group CRH was up in line with the market on light volume.

London

Britain’s main share index climbed to a new record high on Monday, fuelled by oil and mining stocks, and cybersecurity firm Sophos jumped after a ransomware attack hit companies, hospitals and schools worldwide.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3 per cent at 7,454.37 points at its close, having hit a fresh high of 7,460.20 points at the open. The blue-chip index sealed its eighth straight session of gains – its longest winning streak since the start of January.

Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell gained in concert with European peers as crude prices rose above $52 a barrel after Russia and Saudi Arabia said supply cuts needed to last into 2018.

Miners Anglo American, Glencore, BHP Billiton and Antofagasta were the top boosts to the index, up 2.3 to 3.2 per cent.

Europe’s largest tour operator TUI Group fell as much as 5 per cent after it said “challenging” conditions had driven it to a wider loss in its second quarter.

Europe

In Europe, another victory for Angela Merkel’s conservatives in a regional election in Germany pushed Frankfurt’s DAX to a record high in early trade.

However, nerves about the pace of Chinese and US growth, and odd trends generated by record low volatility globally were lingering in the background.

At a time when central bank policymakers are wondering if they have successfully got consumer prices moving upward again, two weeks of fuel price rises also hint at another boost to headline rates of inflation in the months ahead.

That in the past has been a mixed blessing for markets and the global economic outlook, and gains for European stocks were neither large nor across the board, with Paris shares drifting lower.

New York

The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 were trading at record levels in early afternoon trading on Monday as the rise in oil prices boosted energy stocks, and investors shrugged off the impact of the global cyber attack.

Oil hit its highest in more than three weeks after top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia said supply cuts needed to last into 2018, a step towards extending an OPEC-led deal to support prices for longer than originally agreed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 81.69 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 20,978.3. The S&P 500 was up 10.12 points, or 0.42 per cent, at 2,401.02 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 21.12 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 6,142.35.

Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with the energy and materials index leading the gainers. The telecommunications index was the lone laggard, down 0.25 per cent. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg/Reuters)