European shares snapped a 10-day winning streak as the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 0.2 per cent following electoral surprises in Germany.
German shares counteracted early losses on Tuesday after Conservative leader Friedrich Merz was elected chancellor during a second vote in parliament after an unexpected initial setback. Despite the late rally, shares still ended the day lower.
DUBLIN
Dublin markets reopened after the bank holiday weekend and the Iseq All-Share index ended the session at 10,676.02, down .02 per cent.
Healthcare services group Uniphar rose 4.4 per cent to €3.132 in reaction to tariff announcements on the pharmaceutical sector. The other big risers were software and consultancy business FD Technologies, seeing a rise of 1.87 per cent, and Origin Enterprises, up 1.71 per cent.
Airliner Ryanair rise slightly by 0.18 per cent to €22.0, but could not outweigh the big fallers of the day, Kingspan who were down 1.52 per cent to €74.70, and the housing firms. Glenveagh dropped 0.85 per cent to €1.63, Irish Residential Properties Reit was down 0.97 per cent to €1.018, and Cairn Homes slid 0.74 per cent down to €2.00.
Small cap engineering tools group Mincon was the biggest mover of the day rising 12.90 per cent to €0.42, following quarterly results.
LONDON
London’s top financial index inched higher to continue its recent winning streak despite wavering during the trading session amid further concerns over US tariffs.
The FTSE 100 was little changed at the close of play after they were boosted by takeover announcements and speculation. The FTSE 100 finished up by 0.01 per cent to close at 8,597.42, after it was particularly buoyed by reports that oil giant BP could be a takeover target.
London stocks benefited from confirmation of a UK-India trade deal, as other major European markets were under pressure due to concerns that President Trump will announce more tariffs.
BP shares finished up 1.4 per cent at 355.15 pence following reports that its rival, Shell, is exploring a possible acquisition of the oil and gas giant.
Shares in London-listed Deliveroo rose by 1.9 per cent to 175.4 pence following news of its acquisition by San Francisco-based DoorDash, which saw the opposite movement in its US shares.
Alpha Group also lifted in value after the financial services firm rebuffed a takeover proposal from US-based Corpay. The London firm closed up 8.5 per cent at 3,050 pence.
Marks & Spencer shares slipped 4.7 per cent, dropping to their lowest level for almost a month due to the continued fallout from its cyber attack, which caused the retailer to pause all online orders.
EUROPE
The European benchmark, the STOXX 600 index, showed the impact of the German electoral surprises but uncertainty over tariffs also weighed, with investors attempting to keep up with US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policies.
Trump said on Monday he intended to announce pharmaceutical tariffs over the next two weeks. This came a day after he announced a 100 per cent tariff on movies produced outside the U.S.
The subindex of healthcare companies lost 1 per cent, with shares in heavyweight drugmaker Novo Nordisk falling 4 per cent.
Vestas shares surged 8.9 per cent after the wind turbine maker reported an unexpected operating profit for the first quarter.
Fresenius Medical Care jumped 5.1 per cent after the German kidney dialysis company reported first-quarter results above market expectations.
On the downside, Philips fell 2.7 per cent after the Dutch healthcare technology company cut its profit margin forecast for 2025.
Castellum slumped 6.2 per cent after the Swedish real estate group posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter results.
Coloplast fell 6 per cent after the Danish medical equipment maker’s CEO stepped down on Monday and it reported a second-quarter miss on Tuesday.
NEW YORK
Wall Street’s main indexes declined during mid afternoon trading after Trump’s announcement of pharmaceutical tariffs. Following the announcement, Eli Lilly and Merck dropped, Pfizer was also down but saw less impact from the announcement.
In a bright spot, Constellation Energy leapt after its quarterly results, pushing the utilities indexes up with it.
Shares of data analytics firm Palantir saw a sharp fall to the bottom of the S&P 500, as investors were unimpressed by the company’s modest revenue beat and in-line profit.
DoorDash was saw a fall after the meal delivery firm said it would buy Deliveroo in a deal valuing the British rival at about $3.86 billion. The U.S. firm’s quarterly revenue missed estimates, disappointing investors.
Ford Motor was the latest to suspend its annual outlook on Monday, joining a host of companies that withdrew their forecasts in April. The carmaker’s shares reversed premarket losses and were last up about 4 per cent in choppy trading. – Additional reporting, Reuters, Bloomberg.
