Markets rose on Tuesday but Softbank’s €4 billion-plus Nvidia sale prompted more nerves about AI stocks.

Dublin

Insulation maker Kingspan followed a strong start to the week by adding another 3.13 per cent on Tuesday to close at €69.25. Upbeat results prompted a 7 per cent rise in the company’s stock on Monday.

Dealers said there was a broad mix of moves but volumes were light.

Cairn Homes added 1.55 per cent to close at €1.97. Rival Glenveagh was up 0.54 per cent at €1.872.

London

London’s benchmark FTSE-100 set a new record as signs of a lagging British economy prompted investors to bet on interest rate cuts.

The index closed up 112.45 points, 1.2 per cent, at 9,899.60, raising the prospect of it hitting the 10,000-mark.

Irish-based energy group DCC added 2.5 per cent to close at 4,894 pence sterling.

Telecoms group Vodafone, which has an Irish network, reached a two-year high, advancing 8.32 per cent to 96.32p.

A strong performance in Germany prompted the company to raise profit forecasts and lift dividend payments to shareholders for the first time in eight years.

Media stocks with advertising and marketing firm 4 imprint Group surging 18 per cent to 4,020p after it raised full-year profit and revenue forecast.

Scientific tools maker Oxford Instruments surged 15 per cent to 2,060p on improved orders.

On the downside, food supplier Hilton Food slumped 22.7 per cent to 495.5p after it said that profit growth is likely to be challenging in the next financial year.

Europe

European stocks ticked up again on Tuesday. Swiss stocks hit a two-week high, with Richemont climbing 1.6 per cent and Swatch Group gaining 3.6 per cent. US president Donald Trump said he was working with the country on a deal to lower the 39 per cent tariff rate his administration has imposed on it.

Fraport advanced 10.5 per cent after the Frankfurt Airport operator reported upbeat third-quarter core earnings, helped by an around €50 million reduction in personnel costs related to a one-off pension plan refund.

Meanwhile, Italy’s equity benchmark surpassed its 2007 peak on Tuesday, becoming the last major European index to reclaim declines triggered by the global financial crisis.

The FTSE MIB Index – home to banks such as UniCredit and defence firm Leonardo – gained as much as 1.1 per cent to 44,372.74 points on Tuesday, rising above a peak of 44,364 points hit in May 2007. The gauge is now trading around the highest level since 2001.

Italian stocks found favour this year as investors flocked to sectors exposed to the domestic economy to escape harsh US tariffs. The FTSE MIB has rallied 30 per cent in 2025, beating the Stoxx Europe 600 Index’s 14 per cent advance.

However, the country’s biggest mobile network tower operator, Inwit slid more than 8 per cent after cutting its revenue outlook.

US

Nvidia shares dropped 3.7 per cent after Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group disclosed that it had offloaded its shares in the AI bellwether for $5.83 billion (€5 billion).

Nvidia-backed CoreWeave’s shares dropped 12.7 per cent as the cloud computing firm trimmed its annual revenue forecast due to data centre hiccups. Shares of Core Scientific fell 7 per cent.

Health stocks rose 1.6 per cent, with drugmakers Eli Lilly, Merck and Amgen up between 2.1 per cent and 3.6 per cent.

Occidental Petroleum gained 2.8 per cent after the shale producer beat third-quarter profit expectations.

At 4.53pm Irish time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 290.54 points, or 0.61 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 14.37 points, or 0.21 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 178.17 points, or 0.76 per cent. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters