PARIS/LONDON/ZURICH (dpa-AFX) – On the day before Christmas Eve, the stock markets in Europe barely moved away from their Friday closing levels. This Monday is not the last trading day before Christmas for everyone. In Paris or London there will be shortened trading on Tuesday.
However, before the holidays, trading volumes are already thin overall. The interest rate decisions of the world’s most important central banks have been made and there are only a few important economic data on the agenda. This afternoon, US consumer confidence for December will be released and US durable goods orders for November will be on the agenda on Christmas Eve.
The EuroStoxx 50 fell by 0.05 percent to 4,859.63 points later on Monday morning. The country stock exchanges in Paris and London fluctuated between minimal losses and profits. Most recently, the FTSE 100 rose by 0.16 percent to 8,097.56 points. The currency-mixed Stoxx 50 (Stoxx Europe 50) gained 0.53 percent. On the national stock exchange in Switzerland, the SMI advanced by 0.56 percent to 11,448.25 points.
The industry favorite on Monday was the pharmaceutical sector. He benefited from a recovery in the Novo Nordisk share price (Novo Nordisk) after the heavy daily loss on Friday. The paper recently rose by 9.3 percent in Copenhagen. Before the weekend, the diabetes specialist’s shares had temporarily collapsed by almost 30 percent, and the stock ultimately went out of trading with a loss of almost 21 percent. The reason was disappointing study results on the weight loss drug CagriSema.
A takeover project in Great Britain also came into focus. The insurer Aviva announced this Monday the acquisition of the car and household contents insurer Direct Line (DL) (Direct Line Insurance). The offer amounts to 275 pence per DL share (in cash and via shares, the total value is around 3.7 billion pounds. At the beginning of December, Direct Line had rejected an offer from Aviva of 250 pence per share as too low. Furthermore Both then agreed on an improved offer, which has now been formally announced. While Direct Line rose by 3.3 percent, Aviva rose by 0.5 percent Both parties are creating a balance that should create value for both, commented analyst Matt Britzman from Hargreaves Lansdown.
Prosus (Prosus) were at the bottom of the EuroStoxx after VW (Volkswagen (VW) vz) with minus 1.8 percent. The shares thus extended their losses from Friday. According to a statement on Thursday, a family trust linked to the South African billionaire Koos Bekker had sold a total of 3.9 million shares in the Internet investment company worth around 156 million euros within three days. This is intended to finance the construction of hotels in South Africa, Great Britain and Italy.
Nel (NEL ASA) extended Friday’s losses, falling 3.0 percent in Oslo. On Friday, analyst Michele Della Vigna from Goldman Sachs canceled his buy recommendation in a European industry study and halved the price target to 3 Norwegian kroner. He referred to the weakening of the hydrogen market and the fact that this left Nel with almost no transfer of orders. He therefore fears debts in the next two years and that additional funds may then be necessary for growth and operational stability./ck/mis