GSK led a surge in healthcare stocks on Friday, while Flutter fueled a rally in the travel and leisure sector with its optimistic earnings prediction.
GSK gained 2.2% following a decline in the prior session due to mounting concerns about lawsuit in the United States for a heartburn medicine containing a possible carcinogen.
In early trade, shares of Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) and Haleon, which plunged on Thursday due to the same fears, inched upward.
This contributed to a 0.3% increase in the European healthcare sector and a 0.4% increase in the STOXX 600 index.
Travel & leisure equities led sector gains with a 2.7% increase.
Flutter climbed 9 percent to the top of the European travel index, as it saw no indication of cash-strapped consumers betting less and expects to finish the year ahead of 2021, discounting the final year of losses in the United States.
The Irish stock market gained 1.8% thanks to Flutter.
The STOXX 600 index was predicted to post weekly gains of 1.4% after a softer-than-anticipated U.S. inflation figure soothed anxieties on rapid rate rises by the Federal Reserve, while doubts linger regarding officials’ thinking.
Compared to Wall Street’s S&P 500 index, which has dropped almost 12% so far this year, European equities have fallen 9.4% so far this year, mostly due to strong declines in major growth firms in the first half of the year.
Still, questions remain. Europe struggles with the repercussions of the Ukraine conflict as it seeks energy from non-Russian sources.
Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn), said that the news flow for Europe remained significantly more pessimistic than that for the U.S. recently, as concerns about the energy situation on the continent grew.
“Governments are under growing pressure to take action, and German Chancellor Scholz announced (on Thursday) that more consumer relief measures will be implemented.”
In the second quarter, the British economy declined less than anticipated, according to new figures. (L)
Roche climbed 1.2% after the U.S. Food and Medication Administration granted permission for its Xofluza drug to treat influenza in children aged five and older.
