Upbeat earnings lift European shares; Novo Nordisk hits record high (updated)

Beijer Ref AB (publ)

31/01/2024 09:51

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        * 
      German retail sales fall unexpectedly in Dec
    

        * 
      France's CAC 40, Copenhagen's OMX 20 touch record highs
    

        * 
      Novastis falls on Q4 net income miss
    

  
 (Updated at 0934 GMT)
    By Shristi  Achar A
       Jan 31 (Reuters) - European shares gained on Wednesday,
rising for the sixth straight session, on a boost from robust
corporate updates, while investors awaited the U.S. Federal
Reserve's policy decision later in the day.  
    The pan-European STOXX 600 index  .STOXX  was up 0.1% as of
0934 GMT.
    Financial services  .SXFP  rose 0.4%, lifted by a 1.1% gain
in Spanish lender Santander  SAN.MC , which posted a record-high
profit for the last quarter of 2023, beating forecasts.
    Industrials received a push from shares of Beijer Ref
 BEIJb.ST , up 7.5% after the Swedish wholesaler of cooling
technology reported fourth-quarter sales above expectations and
forecast continued growth in 2024. 
    Investor attention was centred on the Fed's interest rate
verdict, due at 1900 GMT, for clues regarding the timing of
interest rate cuts in the world's largest economy. 
    "The Fed is likely to open the door further to rate cuts at
its policy meeting today, while leaving rates on hold this
month," analysts at UBS Global Wealth Management noted.
     "But recent solid growth and labor data from the U.S.
suggest the Fed will likely not rush to start cutting rates at
the pace markets currently expect." 
    Upbeat earnings reports from Europe Inc and increasing bets
around an interest rate cut from the European Central Bank drove
the index to two-year highs earlier this week, and on course to
clock its third straight month of gains. 
    Heavyweight healthcare stocks were in spotlight, with Danish
drugmaker Novo Nordisk  NOVOb.CO  adding 1.4% to notch an
all-time high after Europe's most valuable company forecast
another year of double-digit sales and operating profit growth
due to its popular weight-loss drug Wegovy.
    The stock pulled Copenhagen's OMX 20  .OMXC20  to a fresh
record high, last up 0.9%. 
    Swiss drugmaker Novartis  NOVN.S , however, fell 4.1% on
missing estimates for fourth-quarter net income, with the stock
dragging healthcare sector  .SXDP  down 0.5%. 
    Among others, H&M  HMb.ST  slumped 8.7% to the bottom of
STOXX 600 after the Swedish fashion retailer posted a fall in
fourth-quarter margin, while its CEO decided to step down.
    On the data front, French consumer prices rose 3.4%
year-on-year in January, a touch above expectations, but
inflation slowed from the previous month, according to
preliminary data. A separate reading showed German retail sales
fell unexpectedly, by 1.6% in December. 
    Yield on Germany's 10-year government bond  DE10YT=RR  fell
following the data points, and was last at 2.210%, while Paris'
blue-chip CAC 40  .FCHI  scaled an intra-day record peak, up
0.1%.  GVD/EUR 

 (Reporting by Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane
Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
 ((Shristi.AcharA@thomsonreuters.com; 
https://twitter.com/ShristiAchar))