- Macro: Equity markets had a subdued day yesterday with the S&P500 +0.03% and the Nasdaq -0.01%, as Europe outperformed slightly rising +0.55%. In the US, four sectors were in positive territory and only 28% of stocks ended higher. Financials and Healthcare were best. Industrials and Materials were weakest. Intel rose +7.4% following news that the US government may take a stake in the business, following a meeting at the White House with its CEO. CoreWeave fell -15.5% extending a two-day decline as it approached its post-IPO lockup expiration. In Europe, eight of eleven sectors were in positive territory, with Utilities and Industrials best, with Energy and Materials worst. Thyssenkrupp fell -8.7%, as management cut its outlook and investment on trade turmoil concerns.In macro news yesterday, French final CPI for July came in unchanged at 0.9% YoY. EU Industrial Output for June was +0.2% YoY. In the US, July PPI rose more than expected at +0.9% MoM and +3.3% YoY (vs +0.2% MoM and +2.5% YoY estimates). Jobs data appeared stable with Initial Claims at 224k and Continuing Claims declined from 1968k to 1953k.Looking ahead to today, economic releases include the Irish trade balance. Then later from the US, we have Retail Sales for July, Import and Export price inflation data, the Empire State Manufacturing Index, Industrial Production data for July and finally we get the University of Michigan’s Sentiment Index for August. There are no central bank speakers today.
- Stocks: Ryanair: (Overweight TP €29.50) Yesterday Ryanair announced a significant expansion in Albania with the opening of a new base at Tirana Airport, scheduled to commence in April 2026. The airline is investing $300 million to station three new Boeing 737-800 aircraft at the airport, a move that will directly create 100 new, high-paying jobs for pilots and cabin crew. The new base will substantially increase the airline’s operations, with plans to handle four million passengers annually and support over 3,000 local jobs. On the Swedish market following Sweden’s decision to scrap its aviation tax, Ryanair announced a 25% increase in capacity to the country for the upcoming winter, which will include eight new routes. For summer bookings, O’Leary stated that demand across Europe remains strong, with bookings running approximately 1% ahead of the previous year. He noted that fares are “holding up” and expressed reasonable optimism about achieving summer targets. All this news points to continued good growth potential for Ryanair, which has many levers to pull, to get to its 300m passengers target by FY34. We reiterate our Overweight rating with a PT of €29.50.
- Debt: The US bond market had a difficult afternoon yesterday after much stronger then expected US PPI numbers gave the first indication of tariff passthrough into US domestic prices.