European stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday, after losses at major health care companies erased gains made after the release of strong business results from consumer goods companies such as Unilever and luxury goods company Kering.
Stock movements
The European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.1 percent lower after rising 0.3 percent during the trading session.
The personal and household goods index led the rise among other sectors, supported by a rise in British American Tobacco shares by 7.1 percent after the giant tobacco company said that it was “intensifying work” to sell part of its stake in the Indian company ITC.
The sector’s gains also increased thanks to a 3.2 percent rise in Unilever shares after soap maker Dove launched a share buyback program worth 1.5 billion euros and recorded an increase in fourth-quarter sales.
Kering shares rose 4.9 percent after the French luxury group’s sales in the fourth quarter were in line with estimates.
Shares of other heavyweight luxury goods companies, such as LVMH, Hermès and Richemont, rose between 1.8 percent and 3.3 percent.
The gains achieved by the European index were dissipated by a 1.9 percent drop in the shares of heavy healthcare companies, affected by a 6.4 percent decline in AstraZeneca shares after the British pharmaceutical company’s quarterly profits fell short of expectations.
Maersk shares suffered a major loss today, falling 14.7 percent after the giant Danish shipping company warned that the abundance of container shipping capacity would hurt profits more than expected this year and said that the large jump in shipping prices due to the turmoil in the Red Sea did not support it, but rather harmed its shares.
Shares of the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd also fell 9.2 percent.
The oil and gas company stock index fell, affected by a 11.9 percent decline in Nashta shares, after the operating profits of the Finnish biofuel production company in the fourth quarter were less than expected, and the company also expected a decrease in the sales margin of renewable energy products in 2024 compared to last year.
Among the gainers, Adin shares rose 21.3 percent to the top of the main index after the profits of the Dutch electronic payments company exceeded expectations during the past year.
2024-02-08 19:05:50
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