Tech strength pushes European shares to 1-month high

Danske Andelskassers Bank A/S

18/07/2018 08:08

MILAN, July 18 (Reuters) - European shares hit a one-month
high on Wednesday, helped by a rally in tech stocks following
well-received earning updates from equipment makers Ericsson
 ERICb.ST  and ASML  ASML.AS  and a record close for the Nasdaq
overnight.
    Europe's tech index rose more than 2 percent, leading
sectoral gainers in the region, with Ericsson and ASML surging 9
percent and 5 percent respectively.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1UE0TN  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1UE10U
    Their gains and weakness in the pound and euro helped drive
the pan-European STOXX 600  .STOXX  index up 0.5 percent to its
highest level since June 18. 
    Gains were broad-based, although banks fell 0.5 percent,
dragged by a drop of 9.6 percent in Danske Bank  DABA.CO  after
the Danish lender's second-quarter pretax profit fell short of
expectations.
    Among top gainers was Novartis  NOVN.S , which rose 2.9
percent following its earnings update. The Swiss heavyweight
drugmaker said it was on track for sales and profit growth this
year after posting strong second quarter results.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1UE0P8

 (Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Editing by Kit Rees)
 ((Danilo.Masoni@TR.com; +39-02-66129734; Reuters Messaging:
danilo.masoni.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net; On Twitter https://twitter.com/damasoni))