The entrance of the London Stock Exchange Group building on Dec. 8, 2024.
Manuel Romano | Nurphoto | Getty Images
European markets closed higher on Tuesday, in a shortened trading day for Christmas Eve.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally ended the session around 0.2% higher. Tech stocks were among those leading the gains, following a strong trading session on Monday for U.S.-listed technology shares.
London’s FTSE 100 and the French CAC 40 index both ended the session in positive territory, with sectors across the board seeing gains ahead of the Christmas shutdown.
Novo Nordisk shares rally
Novo Nordisk resumed its rally on Tuesday, rising to the top of the Stoxx 600 and adding 5.7% by the closing bell. Shares of the Danish pharmaceuticals giant were recovering from last week’s major sell-off, which followed disappointing results from the trial of its CagriSema weight loss drug.
Elsewhere in European pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca said Tuesday it had voluntarily withdrawn its EU marketing application for its datopotamab deruxtecan lung cancer treatment. The company said the decision, made alongside co-developer Daiichi Sankyo, “was informed by feedback from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency.”
Back in September, disappointing results from the clinical trial on which the application was based dented AstraZeneca’s share price. Shares of the company were up 0.1% at the end of the Christmas Eve session.
In other business news, Anglo American is facing legal issues in Chile after the country’s Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) filed four environmental charges against the company on Monday. The firm could face a fine of up to $17 billion over alleged non-compliance with environmental permits at its Los Bronces copper mine, according to a Google translation of the SMA statement.
In an emailed statement, an Anglo American spokesperson said the mine was operating normally and that the company was working with the Chilean regulator to ensure compliance.
The mining giant’s London-listed shares closed up 2%. Mining stocks led the gains on the Stoxx 600 on Tuesday, after news agency Reuters reported China was planning to issue a record 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) worth of treasury bonds in 2025.
At the bottom of the Stoxx 600 was British homebuilder Vistry Group, whose shares plummeted 16% throughout the course of Tuesday’s session.
The company revised its full-year guidance on Tuesday, trimming £50 million from its profit outlook. Vistry said it now expects its full-year adjusted profit before tax to come in at around £250 million, attributing the downward revision to delays to expected year-end transactions and completions.
Shares of Swedish online gambling firm Evolution continued their selloff on Tuesday, after tumbling to the bottom of the European index on Monday. Last week, the company said it had been placed under review by the U.K. Gambling Commission, after the regulator discovered the company’s games were accessible in Britain through unlicensed operators.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were in mixed territory as investors monitored the monetary policy outlook in Japan, the blockbuster merger between autos giants Honda and Nissan and faltering consumer confidence in South Korea.
Trading is expected to be muted across the globe this week as multiple markets close early on Tuesday and will remain shuttered on Wednesday for Christmas Day.
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