A telecom sector rise and consumer stock momentum overcame software industry weakness and a selloff prompted by Novo Nordisk’s poor outlook to close European equities at a new high on Wednesday.
As European markets rebounded from losses, the pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX), rose 0.03% to 618.12 points.
The telecom sub-index (.SX7P) rose 3.6% to an eight-year high.
On track for its greatest daily increase since March 2022, the chemical sub-index (.SX4P) rose 4.8%.
GSK (GSK.L) shares rose 6.9% to a 25-year high as new CEO Luke Miels announced plans to increase revenue and accelerate development of new medicines.
The first set of results under new GSK chief Luke Miels may not have made much of an impact, but that may not be a bad thing for him. The figures are good enough even if earnings were off projections “AJ Bell head of markets Dan Coatsworth said.
After warning of lower sales and profitability in 2026, the Danish drugmaker fell 17.2%, knocking off $50 billion from Wegovy’s market cap.
Denmark’s stock index (.OMXC20) fell 6.7%, its biggest one-day drop since July 2025.
AI developer Anthropic’s debut of Claude Cowork plug-ins that analysts believed might disrupt the software industry worldwide was also being considered by investors.
Tech (.SX8P) and media stocks (.SXMP) experienced strong falls on Tuesday, falling 2.5% and 0.7%, respectively.The capabilities of AI agents remain unclear, thus investors are avoiding the software sector, leaving no room for error “Ben Barringer, Quilter Cheviot’s head of technology research…
Banks’ sub-index (.SX7E), fell 1.2% on a strong day for earnings announcements throughout the continent.
UBS (UBSG.S), disclosed U.S. wealth management withdrawals on Wednesday and warned of more after losing relationship managers. Its stock fell 6.3% after meeting quarterly earnings projections.
Santander (SAN.MC), Europe’s largest lender, slumped 3.5% after announcing a $12.2 billion acquisition of Webster Financial (WBS.N).
Among other movers, Beazley (BEZG.L) shares climbed 6.9% to a record high after the British insurer accepted Zurich Insurance’s sweetened 8-billion-pound ($10.97 billion) buyout offer. Zurich rose 3.5%.