The Amsterdam stock market hit a new record high on Friday as investors reacted to major political and business news. Share prices rose across Europe, with markets in London, Paris, and Frankfurt all making solid gains. This positive mood jumped after US President Donald Trump cancelled planned military attacks on Iran and suggested a peace deal could be signed as early as this weekend, raising hopes for a swift end to the conflict in the Middle East. At the same time, markets are highly excited about the launch of Elon Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, on the New York stock exchange, which is set to be the biggest company debut in history.
This optimistic atmosphere also spread to Asia, where stock markets enjoyed a strong end to the week. Japan’s main stock market rose nearly 3 per cent, while South Korea’s jumped 4.6 per cent, led by a surge in technology and microchip companies. This followed a strong Thursday in America, where Wall Street markets closed up by as much as 2.5 per cent. As the immediate threat of a wider war eased, international oil prices fell further, with Brent crude dropping well below 90 dollars a barrel. While this drop dragged down oil giant Shell by 2 per cent, it was excellent news for airlines, causing shares in Air France-KLM to soar by 6 per cent due to cheaper fuel costs.
The biggest winner in Amsterdam was the digital payment firm Adyen, which saw its shares rise by 4 per cent after announcing it is buying American invoicing platform Orb for more than 290 million euros. Banking shares like ING also rose following reports that several financial giants are competing to buy a 20 per cent stake in the Belgian state bank Belfius. On the downside, lighting company Signify dropped 1.1 per cent after investment bank Goldman Sachs removed it from its recommended buy list.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
