European markets close lower after choppy start to week; Ryanair gains on dividend announcement (2024)

Stocks opened higher Monday to start the week after the S&P 500 notched its best weekly stretch of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 71 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

— Samantha Subin

Telecom Italia shares were 1.8% lower at 11 a.m. London time after the company approved an offer for its fixed-line network from private equity firm KKR, valuing the key piece of Italian infrastructure at 18.8 billion euros ($20.2 billion).

The sale of the landline grid — which needs significant upgrades — has been a main aim of the firm as it seeks to reduce its hefty debt pile.

It is expected to close in the summer of 2024.

The Italian Treasury will spend up to 2.2 billion euros to take a 20% stake in the network alongside KKR, Reuters reported.

Leading Telecom Italia shareholder Vivendi released a statement saying it "deeply regrets" the sale terms, which were approved by the board without a shareholder vote. It called the move "illegal" and said it would challenge it.

Telecom Italia share price.

Dublin-listed shares of Ryanair rose 5.2% in early trade after the low-cost airline said it expected full-year profits of between 1.85 billion euros ($1.9 billion) and 2.05 billion euros, which would represent an all-time high.

The company also announced it would begin regular dividend payments for the first time as it moves past pandemic financial challenges, with 400 million euros to be distributed through 2024.

Ryanair said record summer passenger numbers and prices hikes had offset higher fuel costs in the first half, as it reported a rise in post-tax profit to 2.18 billion euros from 1.37 billion euros in the first half of the financial year.

It expects "modest losses" in the second-half winter period.

The business swung to a post-tax profit of 1.31 billion euros for the full-year ending March 31, after two years of hefty annual losses.

Ryanair share price.

The "Magnificent Seven" stocks — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — have proved popular this year, but one growth investor says he is underweight the group.

"The Magnificent has done well and are poised to continue to do well because they have [a] fortress-like balance sheets and they're highly profitable. They used the past two years post Covid to get more efficient, but they also have tremendous opportunities ahead in terms of artificial intelligence," Jonathan Curtis told CNBC's "" on Friday.

However, he said investors needed to be a "little bit more curious and more cautious" on the tech mega-caps -- and revealed his favorite with "tremendous growth potential."

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

An upturn in a corner of the semiconductor industry began in the second half of this year, according to Citi.

The jump in September's monthly semiconductor sales beat Citi's estimates. It was up 13% month on month to $49.6 billion, higher than the bank's estimates of $46.9 billion, the bank said.

CNBC takes a look at five of its top stock picks.

Subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

European markets were set to open in negative territory Thursday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open unchanged at 7,764, Germany's DAX down 22 points at 17,937, France's CAC 12 points lower at 8,128 and Italy's FTSE MIB down 95 points at 33,280, according to data from IG.

Earnings from Porsche, the John Lewis Partnership, Vistry and Deliveroo are due. Data releases include Spain's final inflation figures for February.

— Holly Ellyatt