European equities were steady as the European Central Bank (ECB) delivered its expected quarter-point interest rate cut at its last meeting of the ye–ar. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed at the close in London with miners and retailers falling the most, and the autos sector posting the biggest gains. Wall Street’s main indexes inched lower.
Dublin
The Iseq overall index was up 0.39 per cent on Thursday, finishing at a price of €9815. Ryanair rose 2.46 per cent to €19.75. Shares in housebuilders Cairn Homes were up 3.27 per cent to €2.37. Glenveagh Properties rose 2.64 per cent to €1.63. Dalata Hotels was up 1 per cent to €4.50 a share. Kingspan fell 0.63 per cent to €70.75.
Things were weaker in banking with Bank of Ireland dropping 2.03 per cent to finish at €8.76. AIB fell 0.65 per cent to €5.34.
London
The FTSE 100 was up 0.1 per cent on Thursday, boosted by Diageo after a brokerage upgrade, while SThree weighed on the midcap FTSE 250 index as it dropped to a more than four-year low on a profit warning.
Leading the blue-chip index’s gains was Diageo, which rose 2.8 per cent after brokerage UBS upgraded the spirit maker’s rating to ‘buy’ from ‘sell’, helping the beverages sector lead sectoral gains with a 2.4 per cent rise.
Precious metal miners led the sectoral losses, falling 2.9 per cent, after gold prices edged down after hitting its highest since November 6th earlier in the session, as investors awaited US PPI data for signals on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook.
Severn Trent advanced 1.8 per cent after Barclays raised target price on the water supplier to 2,800p from 2,500p.
SThree tumbled 26.5 per cent to the bottom of FTSE 250 after the recruiter warned its 2025 fiscal year profit would badly miss forecasts, citing tough market conditions amid political and macroeconomic uncertainty in Europe.
Europe
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed down 0.1 per cent on Thursday as investors took stock of Europe’s central bank cutting interest rates for the fourth time this year after reducing its growth projections. The interest rate cut by the ECB has set the stage for a similar move by the Federal Reserve next week.
In Frankfurt, the Dax moved 0.13 per cent higher, and in Paris, the Cac 40 was down 0.03 per cent. The euro dropped against the dollar after the ECB cut.
The ECB said efforts to return inflation to its 2 per cent target were on track, but it expects a lower economic recovery than previous projections.
The Swiss National Bank made a surprising 0.50 per cent rate reduction.
New York
Wall Street’s main indexes were lower after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended the previous session on a positive note, while investors parsed through some of the last economic data sets ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting.
The Nasdaq soared past the 20,000 mark for the first time on Wednesday as the technology rally showed no signs of a halt, while the S&P 500 closed at its highest in nearly a week after an in-line inflation reading locked in a 0.25 per cent by the Fed at its December 17th to 18th meeting.
Meanwhile, data showed US producer prices rose more than expected in November but a moderation in the costs of services offered hope that the disinflationary trend remains in place, while the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sub-sectors were trading lower, with the energy sector at the bottom with a 0.6 per cent decline.
Megacap and growth stocks were mixed, with Nvidia down 1.7 per cent, while Microsoft gained 1.4 per cent.
Adobe’s 12.5 per cent slide after the Photoshop maker forecast fiscal 2025 revenue below Wall Street expectations also added to the technology sector’s losses. Additional reporting: agencies
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