STOXX 600 up 0.8
Novo Nordisk down after cutting annual profit outlook
Continental up after Q2 results beat
Just Eat Takeaway up after J.P.Morgan upgrades to overweight
Aug 7 Reuters European shares surged on Wednesday, as a slew of upbeat corporate earnings lifted sentiment, although gains were tempered after heavyweight Novo Nordisk missed estimates for its secondquarter operating profit.
The continentwide STOXX 600 was up 0.8 at 492.21 points, as of 0830 GMT, inching its way towards the key 500 mark. All European markets were trading in the green, with most of them notching gains of close to 1.
Among sectors, healthcare was the only one in the red, slipping 0.1.
Novo Nordisk dropped 3.4 after the obesity drugmaker posted quarterly operating profit below expectations and cut its annual profit outlook.
Shares of Roche gained 1.6 following a report the Swiss pharmaceutical company is considering divesting cancer data specialist Flatiron Health.
Corporate earnings took centre stage as investors moved past the riskoff sentiment emanating from fears of a U.S. recession that sparked a global selloff in equities earlier in the week.
Risky assets were higher as positioning is cleaner and dip buyers started to emerge, Mohit Kumar, chief economist for Europe at Jefferies said.
In the absence of fresh catalysts, markets are consolidating as August is generally a month where relatively light trading volumes are observed.
It39;s just a case where people don39;t want…