European shares finished marginally higher on Monday, supported by defence stocks, while Novo Nordisk gained after data showed its weight-loss drug Wegovy delivers stronger heart-protective benefits than Eli Lilly's rival therapies.
The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 0.17% at 551.07, with gains led by the aerospace and defence index, which surged 2.1% to hover near a record high.
Defence giants, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rheinmetall and Hensoldt advanced between 2.8% and 4.5%.
Gains followed a Financial Times report that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe was preparing "pretty precise plans" to send troops to Ukraine as part of post-conflict security guarantees.
Britain's BAE Systems was up 1.8%, as Norway said it had chosen Britain for the acquisition of new frigates, in a deal worth some 10 billion pounds ($13.51 billion).
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, the fourth-largest healthcare company on the STOXX index, rose 1.8% after the company said Wegovy cut the risk of heart attack, stroke or death by 57% versus Eli Lilly's rival medicines Mounjaro and Zepbound in a real-world comparison.
The stock bolstered the healthcare index, rising 0.27%. Denmark's main stock index gained 1.1%, also aided by Novo's domestic peer Zealand Pharma that ended 3.5% higher.
Overall gains were limited by a jump in long-dated euro zone bond yields on persistent worries about government debt levels around the world.
Source : Reuters
Tested EN...
Asian stock markets weakened for the second consecutive day, indicating that the initial rally that had been "speedy" at the start of the year is starting to lose steam. At the same time, US governmen...
US stocks were mixed on Wednesday as investors weighed uneven economic data against expectations for eventual Federal Reserve easing, with the S&P 500 easing 0.2% and the Dow Jones sliding 0.8% fr...
European stocks were in mixed territory on Wednesday morning, as regional market jitters grow over U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to annex Greenland. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was little chang...
Asian stock markets weakened slightly on Wednesday after posting their best start to the year in history. The decline was driven by a decline in Japanese stocks amid escalating tensions with China. Th...
Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more...
Gold prices weakened slightly on Thursday (February 12th), as more solid US employment data reduced market confidence in an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The strong employment data prompted market participants to shift expectations of...
The Hang Seng Index reversed its downward trend in Hong Kong on Thursday (February 12th), weakening by around 0.9% to around 27,000 after a strong session earlier. This decline halted the momentum of the short term rally, as investors began to...