By Nikhil Sharma
(Reuters) -European shares edged up on Thursday, supported by a rise in healthcare stocks, though investor worries prevailed about U.S. President Donald Trump aggravating a full-blown global trade war.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.4% as of 0948 GMT, extending gains after closing 0.8% higher on Wednesday due to optimism from hopes of a ceasefire in Ukraine and a cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation report.
Heavyweigh healthcare stocks led the gains by adding 1.1%, boosted by a 3.6% rise in Novo Nordisk. Kepler Cheuvreux raised the drugmaker’s rating to “buy” from “hold”.
The index of automobiles and parts limited overall gains, falling 0.8%. Shares of carmaker Stellantis and car-parts supplier Valeo fell 1.4% and 3.1%.
Trump threatened on Wednesday to ratchet up a global trade war with further tariffs on European Union goods, just hours after the EU announced retaliatory levies in response to U.S. trade barriers.
“Investors are concerned with the … fallout of current trade tensions potentially developing in a full trade war,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior market economist at Rabobank.
The chaos around the implementation of Trump’s trade duties has generated extreme volatility in global markets, with analysts worrying that tariff uncertainties could dent economic growth.
European truck makers declined sharply, with traders pointing to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to start efforts to reverse the Joe Biden administration’s vehicle emissions rules.
Daimler Truck lost 7.6% and was set for its worst day on record, while Volvo shed 3.3% and Traton lost 3.9%.
Focus was on Europe’s largest economy, Germany, whose parliament is set to debate on Thursday a 500 billion euro ($543 billion) fund for infrastructure and sweeping changes to borrowing rules to bolster defence.
In other stocks, Energiekontor rose 3.3% after the German wind farm operator on Wednesday raised its core earnings guidance for 2024 above market expectations.
Hugo Boss rose 2%. The fashion house said muted consumer sentiment was having an impact on its business in the current quarter as it forecast 2025 sales broadly in line with last year’s level.
Allegro jumped 10.1% and was set for its best day in nearly two years, after the e-commerce platform forecast its 2025 earnings to rise 8%-12% in its home market. The company also proposed a share buyback of around 1.4 billion zlotys ($364 million).
British online trading platform IG Group rose 4.7% after reporting a 12% jump in third-quarter revenue to 268 million pounds ($347 million) on Thursday.
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Maju Samuel)
