At around 10.15 am the AEX index was 0.7% higher at 576.4 points. The AMX rose 0.5% to 771.9 points. The price boards in London (+ 0.9%), Paris (+ 0.9%) and Frankfurt (+ 0.7%) also turned green.
Investors were positive thanks to hopeful developments regarding a corona vaccine from the American biotech company Moderna. According to scientists, the corona vaccine provided antibodies in all 45 subjects in the first test phase. The vaccine is currently being tested in 120 volunteers in phase 2. Moderna wants to start phase 3 at the end of this month, in which the vaccine will be tested on 30,000 people.
Elsewhere, stock markets were also booming. The Japanese Nikkei index closed 1.6% higher this morning. The American stock exchanges open this afternoon expected to be 0.4% to 0.9% in the plus. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index ended 2.1% in green Tuesday evening. Tech stock exchange Nasdaq rose 0.9%. The mood among investors was positive thanks to a statement by US central banker Lael Brainard that extra billion injections may be needed to combat the corona crisis.
Galapagos leader in AEX
In the AEX Galapagos this morning the leader with a profit of 3.6%. The biotech group thus recovered from the price bump of 4.4% on Tuesday. According to analyst Jos Versteeg (InsingerGilissen), investors in Galapagos can take a beating, given the volatile price movements of the stock.
Betalingsdienstverlener Adyen rose 2.5%. Steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal (+2,4%) benefited from buying advice from investment bank Goldman Sachs, including a price target of € 14.
Insurer NN (-0.8%) was the largest fall in the main funds. Supermarket group Ahold Delhaize became 0.7% cheaper.
ASML lost 0.6%. The chip maker was able to boost profits in the second quarter amid the corona crisis. The chip machine manufacturer from Veldhoven is also optimistic for the rest of the year, partly thanks to the shift to working from home. But last quarter sales were slightly below analyst expectations. The ASML order book also became less fat. Former sister company ASMI fell 0.3%.
Aviation concern was in the AMX Air France KLM (+ 2.4%) the biggest climber. Trading house Flow Traders (-1.4%) was the largest underperformer for medium-sized funds.
TomTom: improvement visible after trough
With the small cap funds TomTom 9.2% ahead. The navigation service provider has been hit hard by the corona crisis, but according to CEO Harold Goddijn there is now an improvement visible. TomTom saw sales decrease by 41% in the past quarter and suffered a loss of € 62 million. According to Goddijn, operating income is recovering from the April low, but he did not venture into full-year forecasts due to major financial uncertainties.
Automator ICT Group (+ 1.6%) has acquired Esprit Management & IT Services. That company is active in the development of technical software and recruitment services in the field of technical automation. Founded in 1999, Esprit employs more than 20 people and generates annual sales of approximately € 2 million. How much money ICT pays for the company has not been released.
Biotech company Vivoryon (+ 3.2%) enrolled the first patient in a so-called phase 2b Alzheimer’s study in Europe. The study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Vivoryon’s lead candidate drug, varoglutamstat (PQ912), in approximately 250 Alzheimer’s patients in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. The results of the so-called VIVIAD study are expected to be available in 2023.
Annual loss for Oranjewoud
Locally noted Oranjewoud last year for the first time in years. The parent company of construction company Strukton and engineering firm Antea Group had to bleed mainly due to a number of maintenance contracts with ProRail. Problems with a major Danish contract for a rail traffic management system also put pressure on the result. Under the line, Oranjewoud had a minus of € 3.9 million for 2019. This was the first loss in five years for the company. Turnover amounted to € 2.4 billion. In the first five months of this year, according to CEO Gerard Sanderink, there was a fractional decline in income and a positive result. Oranjewoud had not yet traded this morning.
Tie Kinetix (+ 5.8%) does not seem to be affected by the corona crisis for the time being. The software company reported in an interim trading update that demand for services and order intake are developing as expected. Tie Kinetix closed the third quarter of its broken fiscal year, April 1 through June 30, with sales of € 4.6 million. In the first half of 2020, this amounted to € 8.7 million. Third quarter operating income was € 895,000 and € 1.2 million for the six months to June 30.
Want to receive the most important financial news every working day? Sign up now for our newsletter.
–
