PARIS/LONDON (dpa-AFX) – After the very strong previous week, investors on the European stock market took a breather on Monday. The most important stock indices more or less stood still.
The EuroStoxx 50 (EURO STOXX 50) closed up 0.04 percent to 4342.41 points. The French CAC 40 gained 0.18 percent to 7,246.93 points, while the British FTSE 100 fell 0.11 percent to 7,496.36 points.
Analyst Pierre Veyret from the trading house ActivTrades noted that investors’ appetite for risk remains high. After the US Federal Reserve’s positively received statements on the development of key interest rates at the beginning of November, the mood on the market continues to be positive.
Investors are now speculating about the extent to which interest rates could fall in the coming year. After the massive interest rate increases in recent months, inflation now appears to be under control.
From an industry perspective, stocks from the pharmaceutical sector (STOXX EU600 Health Care) suffered from a drop in the price of Bayer shares of almost 18 percent. Problems are piling up at the pharmaceutical and agricultural company. A US jury ordered the company to pay more than $1.5 billion in a glyphosate lawsuit. Bayer also surprisingly canceled a clinical trial with the anticoagulant Asundexian. This was considered a promising drug.
Enel (Enel) continued its rally with a gain of 1.3 percent. The Italian electricity company’s capital market day this Wednesday could be groundbreaking and the clearest price driver this year, wrote Barclays analyst Jose Ruiz in a study. He sees scope for increasing the surplus target, improving dividend policy and optimizing capital distribution.
At the bottom of the British “Footsie” index, the shares of Ashtead Group (Ashtead) lost 10.5 percent. The company, which specializes in the rental of industrial equipment, had lowered its outlook. At the top of the index, Diploma shares climbed more than eleven percent. According to observers, the provider of technical services and products presented “solid” business figures.
Otherwise, attention was focused on small caps from Switzerland. Julius Baer’s shares there fell by twelve percent. The private bank expects a decline in profits in the current year following loan losses. In addition, the interim report for the first ten months was disappointing. Analysts’ estimates were clearly missed in some cases when it came to the gross margin and the adjusted cost-income ratio.
The shares of AMS Osram (ams) fell by 4.9 percent. Details about the planned rights issue were disappointing here. The sensor manufacturer wants to issue new, bearer, no-par value ordinary shares with full dividend rights from January 1, 2023 in the form of a subscription rights offer at a price of 1.07 francs per share offered. This is close to the drawn level and is therefore significantly lower than expected, wrote analyst Mark Diethelm from Bank Vontobel./ajx/jha/