European shares gain for third straight session, AstraZeneca boosts
Reuters
Published Aug 20, 2019 04:27AM ET
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Amy Caren Daniel
(Reuters) - European shares rose for the third straight session on Tuesday, building on a recovery since late last week as British drugmaker AstraZeneca gained on positive data from a late-stage study.
Shares of the drugmaker (L:AZN) rose 1.6%, lifting the healthcare sector (SXDP), after the company said its diabetes drug Farxiga met the main goal of the study for the treatment of patients with heart failure.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (STOXX) was up 0.2% by 0801 GMT, with London's FTSE 100 (FTSE) outperforming.
"The underlying fears of a recession are pushing investors to defensive stocks (healthcare, consumer staples and real estate). Last week there were wild swings in markets so investors are probably trying to get ahead of that," Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said.
European markets have staged a comeback in the last two sessions on growing hopes that central banks and governments will step in to help global economies stave off a recession.
Campbell said markets could be holding off until the Jackson Hole Symposium on Thursday where there will be concrete comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell and European Central Bank head Mario Draghi.
Investors will also keep an eye out for minutes from the latest policy meetings of both the Fed and the ECB later this week.
Pandora A/S (CO:PNDORA) jumped 6.6% to the top of the STOXX 600 index on Tuesday after the Danish jewelry maker maintained its full-year guidance. However, a fall in bank shares (SX7P) and miners (SXPP) capped gains.
BHP Group (L:BHPB) dropped 1.5% and was the biggest drag on the benchmark index after the world's biggest miner flagged global economic headwinds that could hit demand for its key commodities, iron ore and copper.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.