Global stocks dip after AI boom stalls and motor industry slows

Global stocks slumped on Thursday as industry old and new suffered pull backs in trader confidence. The artificial intelligence boom in the US proving to be a dangerous game for investors worried about recent filings from Meta, while the motor industry in Britain dragged its stock indices into the red.

Dublin

The Iseq All-Share index fell 1.86 per cent to close at 14,026.41, following sizeable drops in the banking sector in particular and little upward movement elsewhere.

AIB saw its stock decrease 4.58 per cent to €10.64 a share, while rival Bank of Ireland fared only slightly better, down 3.81 per cent to close at €18.04 on the day it announced higher interest rates to its fixed-term saving deposit account. Permanent TSB, meanwhile, saw no change in its share price.

Elsewhere, building materials specialist group Kingspan fell 3.90 per cent to €91.20 a share, while airline Ryanair saw its share price slump 2.59 per cent to close at €22.96.

Nutrition business Kerry Group jumped in share price, up 6.07 per cent to close at €99.60 a share. Its chief executive said earlier in the day the surge in demand for weight loss medications was helping its business to boom.

London

Stocks in London fell into the red by close of markets, with the British motor industry slowing down so much, not even strong showing from real estate companies could drive its stock indices into positive returns.

London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 dipped 0.26, while its mid-cap FTSE 250 index fell 0.93 by the end of trading hours.

Aston Martin’s share price decreased 7.21 per cent as the fallout of legal disputes continue to impact investor confidence that the car brand is a safe bet, while ongoing supply chain issues are also blamed by some. Rolls-Royce fell 5.11 per cent as well to its lowest share price in recent weeks as a technical correction on its valuation pulled its stock lower.

Meanwhile, the online real estate company Right Move was up 3.63 per cent as buy-backs keep its stock at a consistently upward trajectory.

Europe

Elsewhere in Europe, stock indices were not much better, following poor results from the Continent’s luxury goods and energy industries, leading investors to look for safer bets in the telecommunications and pharmaceutical sectors.

The blue-chip Euro Stoxx 50 index closed 1.96 per cent lower on Thursday, with the mid-cap Stoxx 600 index fairly slightly better, down 1.05 per cent at the end of trading.

Luxury goods giant Hermes saw its share price fall after investors lost confidence that the French house can truly compete with Chinese competitors – its third quarter revenue fell short of analysts’ forecasts and represented the lowest quarterly growth rate it has seen since early 2020.

Meanwhile, German multinational software company SAP saw its share price rise after it announced a 12 per cent jump in revenue, which the company largely attributed to increased demand for services supported by artificial intelligence (AI).

New York

Stocks on Wall Street slid into the negative by midday New York time, as earnings reports from big tech companies in the US rattled investors’ confidence and continued warfare between the US and Iran shot oil prices up.

The Nasdaq index slumped nearly 2.5 per cent, while the S&P 500 fell around 1.25 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped some 0.2 per cent before noon.

Strikes in Saudi Arabia and around the Gulf drove the price of Brent crude oil, the industry benchmark, to $112 (€99.79) – the highest price since May. This only stoked many traders’ inflation worries and pushed the prospect of peace in the Middle East farther away.

Companies at the coalface of AI expansion pulled down many stock indices as investors grew wary of the new technology’s ability to bring in big returns.

Meta reported a sizeable decline in cash flow Wednesday and indicated it would struggle to fund data centre construction on its current path, leading the company to open more than 5 per cent down at the start of trading hours Thursday. – Additional reporting: New York Times.