Europe: Shares snap two-day slide; Novo Nordisk rallies

[PARIS] European stocks rose in early trade on Friday, halting a sharp two-day retreat as a renewed fall in the euro currency helped boost the shares of exporting companies.

At 0804 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.7 per cent at 1,584.88 points, after losing nearly 2 per cent in two sessions.

The euro fell back on Friday, trading at US$1.0811, well below Thursday's intraday high of US$1.10525. European shares have strongly rallied in the past six months as investors bet a sharp drop in the euro currency will boost the region's economy and lift corporate results.

Shares in Denmark's Novo Nordisk featured among the top gainers, up 13 per cent after the pharmaceutical firm decided to submit interim analysis data from a clinical trial of its crucial new insulin drug Tresiba to US regulators within the next month.

REUTERS