Ryanair shrugs off strikes to post rise

RYANAIR helped fuel a rise of more than 1pc in the Iseq index of Irish shares yesterday, despite strike action by Irish pilots and fears of further strikes elsewhere.

The airline said the strike had gotten pilots nowhere.

Shares in the company rose more than 3.5pc yesterday, while elsewhere there were declines of more than 2pc at Kingspan and Aryzta. The Iseq closed up 1.14pc at 7024.26.

In afternoon trading in the US, stocks extended gains, while Treasuries fell as trade tensions appeared to ease after China held off from immediately retaliating against the latest US salvo.

The S&P 500 Index headed for the highest close since February as China appeared to strike a conciliatory tone in reaction to President Donald Trump’s newest escalation of the trade war between the two countries.

Industrial and technology shares led gains, sending the Nasdaq Composite Index to a record.

Ten-year Treasury yields advanced, while the dollar declined against most peers after US consumer prices rose less than forecast in June.

“What’s going on in the market right now is the tariffs are lending a tremendous amount of uncertainty,” Dave Haviland, managing partner of Beaumont Capital Management in Needham, Massachusetts, said.

“It’s the day-to-day back and forth, markets tend to overreact or react emotionally to news.

“This whole cauldron that is swirling around, all these worries and uncertainties are really causing this daily tug-of-war.”

While markets welcome the lull in the escalation of the trade war, they’ll remain on edge as they await a potential reprisal from Beijing to Trump’s latest volley.

These concerns have overshadowed economic data hinting that global growth is on track.