European stocks extended their New Year’s rally on Tuesday, led by economically sensitive banks and travel stocks on signs that the Omicron coronavirus variant may be less severe than initially feared.

Stock markets around the world rebounded for the second consecutive trading day in 2022, with the World Health Organization saying more and more evidence is emerging that the variant of the coronavirus affects the upper respiratory tract, causing milder symptoms. than the previous variants.

Dublin

It was a positive start to the year in Dublin with the Iseq index following other stock markets on the rise. The Dublin market closed its first day of trading in 2022, up 2.5% to 8,661.82.

Ryanair was the biggest winner, up 8.85% to € 16.60 on positive sentiment towards travel and hospitality stocks. Hotel group Dalata also delivered a strong performance, closing up 7% at € 3.99.

Banks have also focused on Bank of Ireland up 6.3% to € 5.30 and AIB 4.4% more at € 2.23.

Other movers in Dublin included home builders Cairn Houses and Glenveagh, which increased by 3% and 0.4% respectively; CRH, up 3%; and Smurfit Kappa, up 1.6%. Kingspan fell into the red, however, closing down 3.3%.

LONDON

Britain’s FTSE 100 rose in the first trading session of 2022 on Tuesday, after its best annual gain in five years, following signs the Omicron Covid variant is less likely to derail the global economic recovery.

The FTSE 100 blue chip gained 1.6%, closing at its highest since February 2020, while the domestically focused mid-cap index rose 1.8% in a rally to catch up after a long week. -end of vacation.

Financials led the gains, with banking and life insurance stocks increasing 4.8% and 3.2% respectively.

Shares of London-listed airlines have soared, with Wizz Air, EasyJet and owner of Aer Lingus and British Airways AGI gaining between 7.5 percent and 10 percent, after Hungarian company Wizz released strong load factor data.

Europe

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index finished up 0.8% to 494.02 points, hitting a record for a second consecutive session.

The European banks sub-index jumped 3.3% to November highs and was the best performer of the day as government bond yields on both sides of the Atlantic were boosted by expectations a tightening of monetary policy.

Europe’s travel and leisure index jumped 3.5% to its highest level in more than six weeks. Home inventory including food delivery companies Delivery heroes and Just eat take out. com fell between 7 and 8 percent, while the big names in health were also down.

New York

The Dow Jones and S&P 500 hit even more records on Tuesday as concerns over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus faded and financial stocks rose, while Ford jumped on an optimistic forecast for electric pickup production.

Nine of S&P’s top 11 sectors rose early in the session. Value-oriented and cyclicals such as energy and financials led the pack, up around 2% each. The healthcare sector has underperformed.

Travel stocks rose, with the S&P 1500 Airlines Index rising 1.9% and cruise passengers Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean and Carnival adding between 0.9 percent and 2.1 percent.

Large tech stocks that led the gains in the previous session edged up. Apple, You’re here, Meta and Alphabet increased between 0.1 and 1.2 percent.

The banking sector of the S&P 500 added 2.7%, while the broader value index rose 0.7% to a record high. – Additional reports: Reuters