Cairn shares jump more than 6pc

SHARES in Cairn Homes roared ahead by more than 6pc in Dublin yesterday, to climb higher than where they started the week.

The housebuilder had seen investors leave the stock after results announced on Tuesday. It was also a good day for Cairn’s fellow housebuilder Abbey, which rose more than 3.5pc.

Over at Glenveagh Properties, an entity linked to chief executive Justin Bickle bought around €50,000 of shares. Shares in it were unchanged, as was the Iseq index in a broad sense with a decline of just 0.06pc. The index closed at 6693.58.

More generally, investors moved to reduce risk as the Trump administration eyed escalating the trade war and concerns mounted over flagging demand for computer chips.

The sell-off in US technology shares accelerated, and emerging-market equities headed for a bear market. “There are many risks out there,” Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York, wrote in an email to clients. “Emerging markets causing market chaos ... rising trade tensions threatening long-established world trade patterns and disrupting company supply-chains.”

The weakness in tech shares comes ahead of the key US payroll report that will offer clues on the labour market’s health and the state of wage inflation. For now, emerging economies hold the key to sentiment, with recent losses fuelling fears that turmoil could spill into developed markets. While focus remains on efforts from Argentina to Indonesia to sustain confidence, the potential for President Donald Trump to announce tariff hikes on Chinese imports looms.