European stocks pared all earlier losses and ended the day flat after the latest US jobless claims data helped ease economic slowdown fears.
The UK jobs market showed further signs of cooling in July, data that will form part of the Bank of England’s discussions about when to cut interest rates again.
Ireland
Ryanair announced a share buyback scheme worth €800 million on Thursday. The airline’s share value rose 4.36 per cent, with each share worth €14.60. Ryanair previously announced a €700 million buyback scheme, which is about 90 per cent complete. It brings the company’s total buyback to €1.5 billion.
Irish Continental Group was up 5 per cent and finished at €5.44 ahead of results for the first half of the year that are due to be announced on August 29th. AIB finished down 1 per cent at €4.96 for the day and Bank of Ireland was down 1.36 per cent, finishing at €9.40. Hostelworld rose 4.79 per cent, finishing at €1.75 per share.
London
London’s FTSE 100 slipped on Thursday, tracking global market sentiment, while investors assessed corporate updates and top players traded without entitlement to their dividend payouts.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index and the mid-cap FTSE 250 index ended the day with a 0.3 per cent loss.
The benchmark index logged its best day in more than four months on Wednesday, extending a broad recovery to a second session after a heavy sell-off rattled stock markets on Monday.
Retailers led losses on the index with a 1.1 per cent decline, while the real-estate sector mostly pulled down the benchmark index.
Many top players such as AstraZeneca, BP NatWest and Standard Chartered also traded ex-dividend, pushing the heavyweights lower between 0.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent.
However, non-life insurers gained 1.6 per cent. They were pulled up by a 10 per cent gain in Beazley, which upgraded its combined ratio forecast for 2024 after first-half pretax profit nearly doubled to $728.9 million. The stock topped the FTSE 100 index.
Europe
Europe’s benchmark stock index recouped early losses to close slightly higher on Thursday, helped by encouraging United States jobs market data and as the heavyweight healthcare sector got a boost from Novo Nordisk’s recovery.
The Stoxx 600 closed 0.1 per cent higher, after a sharp early decline in technology stocks knocked the pan-European index down over 1 per cent across the day.
Higher-than-expected Siemens profits helped guide the German Dax higher on Thursday. The Cac 40 in France ended 0.26 per cent lower and the Dax index was up 0.29 per cent at the close.
New York
Wall Street’s main indexes rose nearly 2 per cent on Thursday, bolstered by a better-than-expected jobs report that eased worries of an imminent slowdown in the world’s largest economy.
Data showed the number of new applications last week for unemployment benefits fell more than expected, suggesting the fear that the labour market was unravelling was overblown. Most megacap and growth stocks advanced, stabilising after a free fall on Monday as a disappointing jobs report for the month of July sparked fears of a potential recession. Nvidia led the gains with a 4.4 per cent surge.
Bumble slashed its annual revenue growth forecast, stoking worries about the dating app operator’s growth plans, sending its shares down 32.6 per cent.
Warner Bros Discovery dropped 8.8 per cent after it wrote down the value of its TV assets due to the uncertainty of fees from cable and satellite distributors and sports rights renewals.
Monster Beverage lost 10.8 per cent after the energy drinks maker missed market expectations for second-quarter sales as budget-conscious consumers kept a tight lid on spending. – Additional reporting: Reuters
