European stocks fell amid uncertainty about the Federal Reserve’s next moves and after earnings from Palantir Technologies revived concerns about lofty tech valuations. The Irish stock market went against the tide, buoyed by a strong performance by AIB.
DUBLIN
The Iseq All-Share index ended the session up 1.04 per cent to 12,122.10, its highest ever close.
A series of big components buoyed the index, despite budget airliner Ryanair falling 0.77 per cent and insulation and building materials specialist, Kingspan Group dropping 0.47 per cent.
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The index’s surge was powered by AIB adding 4.37 per cent to reach a share price of €8.36. The bank raised its full-year net interest income forecast, expecting it to exceed €3.7 billion on the back of better-than-expected deposit growth.
Bank of Ireland, which raised €750 million from its second green bond of 2025, added 2.35 per cent to reach a share price of €14.59.
Among the other winners were Kerry Group, up 1.73 per cent and Irish Ferries brand owner Irish Continental Group which rose 0.70 per cent, and Permanent TSB Group which closed up 0.99 per cent.
LONDON
The FTSE 100 outperformed European and US peers on Tuesday, but sterling fell further, as chancellor Rachel Reeves laid the groundwork for further tax rises in this month’s Budget.
The FTSE 100 Index closed up 13.59 points, 0.1 per cent, at 9,714.96. It had earlier traded as low as 9,574.15.
Gains in index heavyweights pharmaceuticals stocks GSK, up 1.9 per cent, and AstraZeneca, up 1.3 per cent, helped the blue-chip rally from a downbeat start.
BP was another index top name in the green, up 1.3 per cent, as the oil big beat analysts’ forecasts with its third-quarter results and announced a new share buyback.
In addition, it announced a £750 million share buyback and increased the dividend to 8.32 US cents from 8.00 cents a year ago.
AB Foods fell 3.0 per cent as it said it was considering plans to split its retail and food businesses. ABF owns fashion business Primark and food brands such as Twinings tea, Kingsmill bakery, Jordans cereals and Mazola cooking oils.
EUROPE
The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.3 per cent paring an earlier loss of as much as 1.7 per cent.
Mining shares were among the biggest laggards after copper retreated.
Switzerland’s SMI rose 0.6 per cent. Food and beverage as well as healthcare shares outperformed, with Novartis and Roche among Tuesday’s strongest gainers.
The slump in European stocks tracked declines in global equity markets as results from artificial-intelligence bellwether Palantir failed to impress and Wall Street chiefs warned of a correction due to rich valuations.
Telefónica slumped 13 per cent, its sharpest plunge since the Covid crash of 2020, after Spain’s largest telecom operator by revenue cut its free cash flow guidance and halved its 2026 dividend.
In other individual stocks, Edenred SE dropped 8.6 per cent as analysts flagged a lower-than-expected earnings target from the French employee benefits firm amid ongoing regulatory concerns.
NEW YORK
Wall Street’s main indexes had slipped in midafternoon trading on Tuesday following warnings of a market sell-off from some big US banks, while an upbeat sales forecast from AI favourite Palantir failed to impress investors.
CEOs of Wall Street heavyweights Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs cautioned that equity markets could be heading for a drawdown of around 10 per cent to 15 per cent, underscoring growing concerns over sky-high valuations.
Shares of Palantir Technologies slid even as the data analytics company forecast fourth-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates. The stock has jumped nearly 400 per cent in the past year.
Shares of big tech stocks also slipped, with Nvidia, Alphabet and Microsoft down and the information technology sector was the biggest drag on the S&P 500.
The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, was near a two-week high.– Additional reporting, Reuters, PA.
