Europe: Stoxx 600 closes higher on healthcare boost; auto stocks slide
EUROPEAN shares ended Wednesday’s choppy session higher, as a rise in healthcare companies GSK and Novo Nordisk following their upbeat quarterly results offset losses in carmaker stocks.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index reversed early losses and settled up 0.47 per cent at 538.56 points, with healthcare leading sectoral gains with a 2.1 per cent jump.
Novo Nordisk rose 4.5 per cent after the drugmaker posted a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit of US$4.4 billion as sales for its blockbuster drug Wegovy more than doubled. However, the largest European company by market capitalization forecast slower sales growth this year.
“There are also some concerns emerging about long-term tolerability. But there’s still a long way to run given the profound health economic impact this class of drug promises to deliver,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.
GSK rose 7.6 per cent after the British drugmaker launched a US$2.5 billion share buyback plan, while also posting upbeat quarterly results and lifting its 2031 sales target.
Limiting gains on the Stoxx index, automobile stocks fell 1.4 per cent, bogged down by Renault’s 2.6 per cent drop, after a report said Japan’s Nissan would call off merger talks with rival Honda.
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Out of the 67 companies in the Stoxx 600 that have reported fourth quarter earnings as of Tuesday, 53.7 per cent exceeded analyst estimates, compared with 54 per cent in a typical quarter, according to data compiled by LSEG.
European equities, along with their global peers, started the week on a sour note after US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, but rebounded a day later when he agreed to pause levies on goods from Mexico and Canada and said he was open to negotiations.
Trump, however, followed through with tariffs on China, which retaliated in kind, although the fallout of that has been limited on global stocks.
On the European Central Bank monetary policy outlook, investors awaited the updated estimates for the so-called neutral rate due on Friday. The neutral rate is the interest rate level with full employment and stable inflation.
Among others, Santander soared 8.2 per cent after the lender beat fourth-quarter profit estimates and announced a share buyback plan worth 10 billion euros (S$14 billion).
Vestas jumped to the top of the Stoxx index, up 8.2 per cent after the world’s biggest wind turbine maker, announced a share buyback and reported upbeat fourth-quarter results.
The Danish stock index surged 2.9 per cent, logging its steepest one-day jump in more than one week.
Munters slid more than 10.2 per cent to the bottom of the Stoxx after the Swedish maker of air treatment solutions reported what analysts say were “mixed” fourth-quarter results. REUTERS
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