By Nikhil Sharma
(Reuters) -European shares dipped on Wednesday, as the rise in healthcare companies after Novo Nordisk’s strong earnings was overshadowed by losses in automobiles and technology stocks.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1% as of 0930 GMT.
Novo Nordisk jumped 3.8% after the drugmaker posted a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit of $4.4 billion as sales for its blockbuster drug Wegovy more than doubled.
GSK rose 5.3% after the British drugmaker also beat fourth-quarter earning estimates and lifted its 2031 sales target. GSK and Novo helped lift the healthcare index up 0.9%.
The technology index, however, fell 0.8% as chip stocks came under pressure after Advanced Micro Devices’s quarterly earnings failed to impress investors and CEO Lisa Su said data centre sales this quarter would be 7% lower than the previous quarter.
“So again, that’s tied into some concerns over the AI pace of development and the particular valuations attached and the growth expectations that are already baked in,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
Chip equipment maker ASML slipped 1.1%, while chipmaker Soitec was down 1.9%.
Automobile stocks reversed 1.6%. Renault fell about 3%, with traders attributing the decline to a report saying Japan’s Nissan will call off merger talks with rival Honda.
The markets were also confounded by U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. would take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, turning it around to a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
The STOXX 600 and other global indexes started the week on a sour note after Trump’s tariff threats but rebounded a day later as the President’s one-month pause on levies on Mexico and Canada showed he was open to negotiations.
Trump, however, followed through with tariffs on China, which retaliated in kind, although the fallout of that has been limited on global stocks.
Among other stocks, Santander soared 7.4% after the lender beat fourth-quarter profit estimates and announced a share buyback plan worth 10 billion euros ($10.39 billion).
Munters slid over 9% to the bottom of the STOXX after the Swedish maker of air treatment solutions reported what analysts say were “mixed” fourth-quarter results.
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Savio D’Souza)
