Dublin, January 6, 2026, 09:50 GMT — Regular session
- The ISEQ All-Share was down 0.62% at 13,105.94 points in early trade.
- Ryanair, Kingspan and Kerry fell, while AIB edged higher.
- Investors weighed a cooler Irish services PMI and looked ahead to European and U.S. data due later on Tuesday.
Irish shares slipped on Tuesday morning, with the ISEQ All-Share index down 0.62% at 13,105.94 points, data from Davy Select showed. Losses in Ryanair and heavyweight builders’ merchant plays pulled on the benchmark.
The move matters because Dublin’s market is concentrated: a handful of large, liquid names can drive the index on quieter news days. With Europe trading near record levels, investors have been quick to rotate between cyclicals and defensives as fresh data tests the growth narrative.
At home, the latest AIB Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed growth in Ireland’s services sector cooled in December, with the headline reading easing to 54.8 from 58.5 in November, the Irish Examiner reported. A PMI is a survey-based gauge of activity; readings above 50 signal expansion, below 50 contraction.
AIB Chief Economist David McNamara said the PMI still implies “robust growth,” adding: “New business grew at a solid pace in December.” His remarks helped frame the session as a slowing, not stalling, backdrop for domestically exposed stocks. Irish Examiner
Ryanair Holdings slid 1.13% to 29.63 euros, despite the carrier reporting strong December traffic. The airline carried 14.5 million passengers last month, up 7% year on year, while rival Wizz Air said its passenger numbers rose 15.5%, Reuters reported.
Ryanair’s load factor — a measure of how efficiently an airline fills seats — held at 92% in December, Reuters said. The company previously lifted its year-to-end-March passenger target to 207 million after improved Boeing deliveries enabled it to add capacity, the report added.
Cyclical names also lagged. Kingspan Group fell 1.50% to 72.15 euros and Kerry Group slipped 1.01% to 73.55, according to Davy Select data.
Irish banks were mixed, with AIB up 0.37% at 9.48 euros while Bank of Ireland fell 0.83% to 16.80. Separately, a filing showed UBS Investment Bank issued a pre-stabilisation notice tied to a planned 500 million euro Tier 2 issue for Bank of Ireland — debt that ranks below senior bonds in a bank’s capital structure.
Across the region, European shares held steady after Monday’s record close that took the STOXX 600 above 600 points for the first time, Reuters reported. Goldman Sachs lifted its 12-month target for the STOXX 600 to 625, saying, “Valuation is supported by strong global growth and falling interest rates in the U.S.” Reuters+1
A key risk is that the “soft landing” narrative frays if incoming data disappoints or if geopolitical tensions flare, which can quickly tighten risk appetite for smaller European markets. On the corporate side, any renewed disruption to aircraft deliveries would test capacity assumptions baked into airline forecasts. Reuters+1
Later on Tuesday, the focus shifts to German inflation figures and a sweep of manufacturing readings from Europe and the United States — data that traders use to gauge growth momentum and the path for interest rates.
