Flutter finishes down 6% as UK considers £3bn tax on gambling firms

Shares in Paddy Power-owned Flutter finished down 6 per cent on the stock market in England on Monday as the UK government said it was considering a £3 billion (€3.59 billion) tax on gambling firms.
The Iseq closed up 0.68 per cent, in line with its European peers. Ryanair was up 1.78 per cent at €17.17 per share. Dalata Hotels was down 1.24 per cent at €3.99. From a banking perspective, Bank of Ireland closed up 1.56 per cent at €9.35, PTSB finished down 3.34 per cent at €1.59 and AIB was flat on the day at €5.15.
Home builders Cairn Homes rose 0.49 per cent to €2.06 and Glenveagh Properties dropped marginally by 0.12 per cent to €1.61. Kingspan rose 0.69 per cent to €80. Origin Enterprise fell 3.03 per cent to €3.20. Irish Continental Group rose by 0.73 per cent to €5.52.
The UK’s main stock indexes kicked off the week on a high note, powered by gains in utilities and pharma stocks, while gambling firms fell on reports the government was considering a tax raid.
The blue-chip index FTSE 100 advanced 0.5 per cent, while the mid-cap index FTSE 250 gained 0.3 per cent.
Utilities stocks such as SSE and Severn Trent boosted the benchmark index with about a 2 per cent rise each, while pharma and biotech stocks also contributed to the gains.
Automobiles and parts were the top gainers, closing nearly 7 per cent higher.
British bookmakers Entain and Flutter lost 8 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, after reports the new government was considering a £3 billion tax on gambling firms.
Investors are bracing for a flood of economic data from Britain, starting employment figures on Tuesday.
The consumer price index for September is due on Wednesday, with economists polled by Reuters expecting core CPI to ease to 3.4 per cent on an annual basis. Producer price figures are scheduled for release on the same day.
European stocks ended Monday’s choppy session at a two-week high ahead of corporate earnings and a European Central Bank (ECB) rates decision later this week, while some caution prevailed after China’s weekend stimulus promises underwhelmed.
The continentwide Stoxx 600 index closed 0.48 per cent higher, with tech, defence stocks and utilities up more than 1.2 per cent each.
France’s main index underperformed other major markets. Credit ratings agency Fitch revised the country’s outlook to “negative” from “stable” on Friday.
The ECB is expected to deliver another interest rate cut on Thursday after recent data signalled the euro-zone economy was in worse shape than when policymakers last met.
Traders are pricing in a near 100 per cent chance of a 25 bps rate cut this week, up from as low as 20 per cent when the ECB met last month. Money markets have also moved to almost fully price in another such move in December.
Wall Street rose on Monday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow touching fresh intraday record highs, as investors geared up for a week packed with corporate earnings and crucial economic data that will likely test stretched stock market valuations.
Chip stocks drove gains on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, with the benchmark index building on the record close it notched on Friday after major banks kicked off the third-quarter corporate earnings season on a positive note.
An index of semiconductor companies jumped 1.5 per cent to a more than two-month high, led by Nvidia’s 2.5 per cent rise. Among other growth stocks, Apple and Microsoft gained 1.1 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.42 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.69 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.80 per cent.
Gains on the Dow, however, were kept in check by a 1.5 per cent drop in Caterpillar, following a brokerage downgrade, and a 0.7 per cent fall in Boeing after the plane maker flagged a larger-than-expected third quarter loss on Friday.
Energy shares fell 0.2 per cent, tracking lower oil prices. Additional reporting: agencies