On Friday, Europe’s main index was higher as healthcare stocks continued boosting it, recording gains for the fourth straight session and managing a small gain for a volatile week that started with a global stocks rout on fears of a recession in the U.S.
The STOXX 600 continent-wide index closed up 0.6% and during the day briefly reclaimed the 500-point level.
The index managed to record a slight weekly gain after in Monday’s session tumbling as investors became worried about a possible economic downturn in the biggest economy in the world.
Thursday’s U.S. jobs report however helped ease investor nerves about weakness in the labor market, which had partly fueled the U.S. recession fears.
Britain’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC 40, Italy’s FTSE MIB (FTMIB), and Spain’s IBEX 35, all gained between 0.8% and 0.1%.
German inflation in July rose to 2.6%, while Italian EU-harmonized consumer prices (HICP) in July fell 0.9% m/m.
Healthcare was one of the top sectoral gainers and rose 1.7%, as Nordisk, Europe’s biggest company by market cap gained 6.3% to record its second straight daily gain after Wednesday’s rout.
The real estate sector was the best sectoral gainer, boosted by LEG Immobilien, one of Germany’s biggest listed landlords’ 5.5% gain.
