European stocks posted their third weekly decline in four, as traders added to wagers on a US interest-rate hike following a hotter-than-expected jobs report.
DUBLIN
The Irish index of shares ended the week up almost 1 per cent on the day, with the total gain over the week at 2.2 per cent.
Friday’s trading saw banking and financial stocks rise, with AIB, Bank of Ireland and insurer FBD all posting gains. AIB added just under 1 per cent, bringing its gain for the week to 5.7 per cent. Bank of Ireland saw similar momentum in its stock, with a 0.5 per cent rise on Friday lifting shares 6.2 per cent over the past five days.
FBD’s performance was more muted, with a 0.8 per cent increase.
Insulation specialist Kingspan saw its shares rise by half of 1 per cent while, on the other side of the scales, index heavyweight Kerry Group decline 0.24 per cent over the day and by 1.1 per cent over the week.
Shares in Ryanair were higher on Friday, adding more than 2 per cent to finish flat on the week.
Ferries group Irish Continental fell almost 2 per cent on Friday. The company is facing a crucial vote next week on a €1.2 billion management bid to take the ferry operator private, but there is opposition from a number of big shareholders.
LONDON
London’s mid-cap stocks locked in their biggest weekly fall in three months on Friday, pressured by concerns over soaring government debt and inflation, while Experian slid after the US housing regulator criticised the sector’s practices.
The FTSE 100 index closed flat at 10,831.09 points, while the FTSE 250 ended up 0.36 per cent on the day, trimming some of its weekly losses.
Experian shed 4.4 per cent after US director of federal housing, Bill Pulte, accused credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – of overcharging Americans for “far too long” and directed the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to approve all lenders to use rival credit scoring system VantageScore.
Telecoms firm Vodafone climbed 2.7 per cent after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to “buy” from “sell”.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies slid 6.9 per cent after healthcare investor Novo Holdings sold 49 million shares of the biotech firm for £74 million.
EUROPE
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed at the close but the benchmark dropped 0.8 per cent for the week, the most in almost two months.
The automotive sector outperformed, led by Volkswagen. The German carmaker’s shares rallied 6.5 per cent after its supervisory board backed a turnaround plan that includes another 50,000 job cuts.
The technology subindex gained the most, while media and healthcare were the biggest laggards.
Among other individual stocks, AT&S shares rose 11 per cent, extending their year-to-date gains to 414 per cent, after Oddo upgraded its rating of the printed circuit board maker to outperform.
NEW YORK
The big US stock indices slipped after a stronger-than-expected jobs report prompted investors to ramp up bets on an interest rate hike later this month.
At 11.52am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 305.54 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 53,380.57; the S&P 500 was 33.99 points, or 0.44 per cent, weaker on 7,713.72; and the Nasdaq Composite had shed 114.87 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 26,469.19.
Consumer discretionary stocks fell 1.79 per cent and led declines on the S&P 500. The PHLX semiconductor index rose 3 per cent and was set to end a two-week losing streak.
Among individual stocks, Lululemon Athletica fell 17.99 per cent after it slashed its full-year profit and revenue forecasts.
Adobe dropped 6.08 per cent, as it said long-time CEO Shantanu Narayen will hand over the reins to company insider Anil Chakravarthy. – Additional reporting: Reuters, Bloomberg.