The London market buckled on sorely disappointing news from British pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca.
London’s FTSE 100 was 0.1% down at 7,443.01 points, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was 0.8% down at 12,212.04 points, Paris’ CAC 40 slipped 0.1% at 5,186.95 points and EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.1% at 3,493.14 points, at close.
The world’s bourses, meanwhile, took in their stride an “uneventful” monetary policy announcement from the US Federal Reserve, dealers said.
AstraZeneca’s share price plunged 16% as investors fretted over disappointing trial results for its next-generation lung cancer treatment.
Sentiment took another heavy blow as Astra’s first-half sales were hurt by the loss of US patent protection on two blockbuster drugs.
This despite the announcement also of a multi billion-dollar deal between Astra and US peer Merck to advance cancer drugs.
Also in London, shares in British bank Lloyds slid on falling net profits, in its first results since the bailed-out lender returned fully to the private sector.
On the upside, stock in Diageo — the British maker of alcoholic drinks like Guinness stout — rallied strongly as it unveiled a £1.5bn ($2.0bn, €1.7bn) share buyback.
Rising commodity prices, meanwhile, inspired a raft of gains across London’s mining sector, partly offsetting weakness elsewhere.
Anglo American jumped higher as the resources giant resumed shareholder dividends after rebounding into bumper net profits in the first half of 2017.
US equities, meanwhile, had another strong start to trading after Facebook reported a surge in profits in the past quarter, fuelled by strong growth in money-making ads to its more than 2bn users.
On Wednesday, all three main American stock indices had already posted new record highs.
But Facebook’s social network rival Twitter plunged on a disappointing update in which it reported a loss of $116mn amid flat user growth and falling revenues.
The Fed’s steady stance actually helped many stocks as current low interest rates ease the financing costs of corporates, while the weaker dollar boosts their international competitiveness.
The dollar wobbled after the Federal Reserve held interest rates, and its tepid inflation outlook fuelled speculation it will hold off further US hikes this year, but the greenback recouped some of its losses as yesterday’s session wore on.
Back in Europe, Paris won some modest support from Schneider Electric lifting its 2017 guidance and news it bought switch maker Asco Power Technologies for $1.25bn, pushing its share price up.
However, Airbus stock lost ground as the European aircraft manufacturer posted sliding first-half net profits — and blamed problems with the engines for the new version of its top-selling A320 jet.
Related Story
