(Reuters) -European shares edged higher and were on track for their biggest weekly gain in 12 as investors assessed U.S. President Donald Trump’s nomination for Federal Reserve’s open spot on its governing board.
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk added 3.2% and ranked among the top performers on the Stoxx 600 after rival Eli Lilly’s weight-loss pill’s late-stage study showed that it lagged Novo’s injectable obesity treatment Wegovy.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2%, as of 0715 GMT. Most regional bourses were also trading in the green with Spain’s benchmark index IBEX up 0.4%.
UK’s blue-chip FTSE 100 added 0.2%, a day after the Bank of England cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point in a narrow 5-4 vote with inflation concerns weighing on the decision.
Munich Re shares fell 7% and were among the top decliners on the index after the German reinsurer trimmed its fiscal-year outlook for insurance revenue due to business and foreign exchange rates.
RTL Group shares added 3.1% after the European broadcaster reported its half-year results and confirmed its full-year revenue outlook.
The world’s largest online betting company Flutter raised its full-year profit growth forecast but shares fell 1.4%.
Italian finance group Unipol shares fell 2.7% despite reporting a rise in first-half profit.
Trump said he will nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to serve out the final few months of a newly vacant seat at the Fed while the administration looks for a permanent addition.
(Reporting by Twesha Dikshit and Medha Singh; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)
Comments