USA: CRH share price rises on Trump's election

CRH's shares shot up by eight per cent on the Irish Stock Exchange (Iseq) yesterday on the back of Donald Trump's US Presidential win adding EUR2bn to the company's market capitalisation, valuing it at EUR26.8bn.
 
CRH's shares soared to a more than nine-year high after Mr Trump confirmed in his acceptance speech that he intends pumping money into US infrastructure projects, including roads, airports and hospitals. CRH is the largest producer of asphalt and the third-largest producer of construction aggregates in the United States.

"The numbers are significant should they come to pass," said Davy Stockbrokers analyst Robert Gardiner. "Trump has talked in terms of spending trillions on US highways and bridges. This compares to the five-year, US$305bn (EUR278bn) FAST Act (Fixing America's Surface Transportation) passed last November, and Clinton's US$500bn (EUR457bn) stimulus plan."

"While talk is cheap and funding is a major question mark, we believe that post-election talk of an infrastructure stimulus will now gain more traction," Mr Gardiner said.

"It may be early days to be weighing the pros and cons for the stock, but CRH seems like an obvious beneficiary." The company declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the Mexican peso fell as much as 13 per cent overnight against the dollar, on fears that Mr Trump will see through his promise to build the Mexico wall and renegotiate trade deals between the two nations.