© Reuters. The German stock index DAX chart is depicted on January 12, 2023 at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany. REUTERS/Staff
Bansari Mayur Kamdal
(Reuters) – European stocks edged higher on Monday as a rise in health care stocks helped benchmark indices continue their sharp rise into the new year.
Pan-European stocks rose 0.1% in early trading, helped by a 0.8% gain in healthcare stocks.
Pharmaceutical companies such as Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE:) each added more than 2%.
The pan-European index is up 6.6% year-to-date. This is because the warmer weather raised hopes for a milder-than-expected recession in the region, and data showed easing price pressures in the US and Eurozone.
The UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 7,852.84, close to a record 7,903.50.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and market analyst at Hargreaves Lansdowne, said: “After a difficult period when the FTSE 100 was the wallflower of global indices, investors appear to have fallen in love with UK assets again. .
“Confidence is picking up as investors look to China reopen and prop up commodity stocks. Better-than-expected consumer appetite is boosting the retail, travel and hospitality sectors, while Banks are still riding the wave of rising interest rates.”
The World Economic Forum’s annual winter syndig in Davos kicked off early that morning after a three-year hiatus, with investors responding to comments from several central bank policymakers and industry leaders. I was keeping an eye on it.
Also in focus was the meeting of European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde and European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Fabio Panetta in Brussels on the same day.
Weakness in luxury brands such as LVMH and Hermes International (OTC:) weighed on the European STOXX 600 on Monday.
In company news, Temenos added 5.4% after CEO Max Chuard stepped down at the Swiss financial software firm under pressure from activist shareholders.
Marks & Spencer (OTC:) has announced plans to open 20 new stores in the 2023-24 financial year as part of a £480m ($587m) investment in store real estate. increased by 0.8%.
Swiss construction chemicals maker Sika added 0.9% after agreeing to sell part of its admixture business to UK-based chemical and energy group INEOS.
German arms maker Rheinmetall has acquired a 2.9% stake in Dutch IT hardware specialist Incooling BV.