European stocks clawed their way back from three-week lows on Friday, lifted by gains in financials and industrials.
Dublin
Irish stocks rose on Friday, buoyed by gains in heavyweights such as Kingspan.
But banking shares dipped, with AIB losing 0.65 per cent, and Bank of Ireland down 0.61 per cent by the close of the day.
Shares in insulation specialist Kingspan rose 1.2 per cent after brokerage Citigroup raised its price target.
Glanbia rose 0.57 per cent, while food group Kerry was slightly off the pace, losing 0.1 per cent.
Shares in Ryanair hit a high of €24.18 during the session, before dipping to €24, a 1.6 per cent increase over its opening price.
Shares in construction companies Glenveagh and Cairn Homes also edged lower.
London
The benchmark FTSE 100 gained 0.8 per cent and posted a weekly gain of 0.74 per cent, led by banks and consumer discretionary shares. The mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 0.4 per cent on the day, and was also up 0.4 per cent over the week.
Heavyweight bank stocks rose 1.7 per cent after Citigroup strategists kept their “overweight” recommendation on Europe’s banking sector.
HSBC and NatWest were among its top picks, and their shares were 1.3 per cent and 3 per cent higher, respectively. Travel and leisure stocks added 1.6 per cent, led higher by a 4 per cent gain for InterContinental Hotels Group after JPMorgan double upgraded it to overweight from underweight. IHG was the top percentage gainer on the FTSE 100.
Oil major Shell and BP rose 1.3 per cent and 1.2 per cent, lifting the broader energy index as oil prices climbed on Friday.
The British pharma and biotech subindex rose 0.6 per cent.
Europe
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.8 per cent, and ended the week just 0.07 per cent higher.
Spanish stocks outperformed other regional markets, rising 1.3 per cent to close at a more than one-week high, with other major indexes also in positive territory.
Germany’s Munich Re and France’s SCOR led European insurer stocks 2.1 per cent higher, snapping a three-day losing streak.
Shares of steel producers also rose after German business daily Handelsblatt reported that the European Commission plans to impose tariffs of 25 per cent to 50 per cent on Chinese steel and related products.
The world’s second-largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal was up 2.6 per cent, while Aperam rose 2.2 per cent. Germany’s Thyssenkrupp added 3.5 per cent and Salzgitter gained 5.2 per cent.
Healthcare stocks reversed earlier losses to end flat.
New York
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes were set to snap a three-week winning streak in a mixed session on Friday, as investors digested the latest inflation data amid expectations of aggressive interest rate cuts.
By lase morning the Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen 213 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 46,160.42. The S&P 500 gained 14.60 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 6,619.32, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 27.02 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 22,357.68.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are on track for their worst weekly performance since late July.
Financials, up about 1 per cent, were among the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 on the day. A 4 per cent gain in Boeing and 1 per cent rise in Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan each supported the Dow.
Shares of truck maker Paccar, which makes most of its trucks for the US market domestically, gained 5.1 per cent to top the S&P 500, a day after US President Donald Trump unveiled fresh import tariffs, including on heavy-duty trucks, branded pharmaceutical products, kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities and upholstered furniture. Drugmaker Eli Lilly rose 1 per cent.
In corporate news, GlobalFoundries jumped 8.7 per cent after a report the US was planning a chip production rule to curb reliance on overseas supply. Costco Wholesale fell 2.6 per cent to the bottom of the S&P 500, after the company reported quarterly results. – Additional reporting: Reuters
