European stocks were muted, US bond yields fell, and Wall Street shares advanced after a Federal Reserve governor gave an optimistic view of recent inflation progress in advance of a key jobs report.

Dublin

The Iseq index added more than 1 per cent.

Cairn Homes was the biggest mover of the session, adding more than 4 per cent to close at €2.80 per share, after reporting a gross profit of €96.9 million in interim results on Wednesday, up 54 per cent year on year compared to €63.1 million.

Its main rival, Cairn Homes, moved more than 1.6 per cent higher to €2.47 per share.

Meanwhile, Ryanair slid by 0.6 per cent to €22.84 per share, underperforming its European peers, which benefited from a fall in oil prices.

Banks gained ground, with AIB up 2.7 per cent to €11.36, and Bank of Ireland ahead by 2.1 per cent to €19.87.

Europe

European shares were little changed as oil and bond markets stabilised. The blue-chip Stoxx 50 added 0.2 per cent, and the pan-European Stoxx 600 index edged up by 0.5 per cent.

Chip stocks were mixed. Soitec advanced by more than 9 per cent after lifting its revenue guidance for the second quarter of 2027. Meanwhile, ASML and Infineon dipped by 1.5 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.

Media stocks were the biggest gainers, while consumer products lagged the most. Big luxury names fell, with Hermes down 3.7 per cent, Ray-Bans maker EssilorLuxottica down by more than 3 per cent, and LVMH off by 2.2 per cent.

Among individual stocks, Deutsche Telekom climbed 1.4 per cent. Bloomberg News reported that Elliott favours the company ditching a potential merger with its American arm, T-Mobile US, and considering alternative ways to unlock shareholder value.

London

UK stocks recovered with the blue-chip FTSE 100 up by 0.7 per cent, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 added 0.8 per cent.

The ⁠services sector in the ⁠UK grew ​for the second month in a row in August, and confidence rose, a survey showed.

Rate-sensitive banks jumped by 0.2 per cent, with Barclays up by more than 2 per cent, Lloyds ahead by 1.8 per cent, and NatWest rising 1.6 per cent.

Aer Lingus owner IAG advanced by 1.8 per cent, aided by a stabilisation in crude oil prices, which pushed energy majors BP and Shell down by 0.5 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively.

Among individual stocks, insurer M & G advanced by 2.4 per cent after beating half-year operating ​profit forecasts as clients poured money into its equities and credit funds. Net inflows from open business ⁠were £2.4 billion (€2.8 billion), up from £2.1 billion a year ago.

New York

Wall Street stocks advanced, and US bond yields fell after Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller said he would be willing to support holding rates steady if price pressures continue to show signs of easing.

He offered some optimism that price pressures were showing signs of improvement. Money markets pared bets on a September Fed hike.

The S&P 500 advanced by more than 1 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.4 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by 1.2 per cent.

Nvidia rose by 1.4 per cent after announcing a $12.93 billion (€11.1 billion) acquisition of artificial intelligence (AI) model platform Hugging Face.

Broadcom fell 5.2 per cent after its fourth-quarter revenue forecast fell short of Wall Street’s lofty expectations, underscoring that the firms at the centre of the AI buildout have a high bar to clear.

Snowflake ‌soared 25.1 per cent after forecasting strong annual revenue, ⁠boosting sentiment across the software sector. ServiceNow rose 5.3 per cent, while Salesforce and Adobe gained about 3.1 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters