By Twesha Dikshit
(Reuters) -European shares extended gains on Wednesday as investors bought into recent market weakness, brushing aside fresh U.S. tariff threats and digesting a mixed batch of corporate earnings.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2%, as of 0835 GMT, rising for a third consecutive session after touching a five-week low on Friday.
“The last two days are really just a response to the weak U.S. labour market data which has ramped up expectations for a Federal Reserve cut,” Bank of America’s European equity strategist, Andreas Bruckner, said.
“The European equity market is highly sensitive to swings in the U.S. rates market and that’s basically what we’ve been seeing.”
Germany’s blue-chip DAX and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.
Switzerland’s benchmark SMI index edged down 0.3%, with President Karin Keller-Sutter set to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as Switzerland seeks to negotiate the 39% tariff scheduled to take effect on Thursday.
Glencore fell 3.4% after the UK miner reported a drop in first-half core profit due to weaker coal prices and lower copper production.
Siemens Energy rose marginally after the company said it expects to hit the upper end of its 2025 growth outlook estimates.
European healthcare stocks slipped 1.1%, with Novo Nordisk marginally down after the Danish drugmaker maintained its full-year outlook, just days after slashing its 2025 sales outlook.
The Wegovy maker said it would cut costs after losing nearly $95 billion in market value last week.
Adding to the sector’s headwinds, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Washington would initially place a “small tariff” on pharmaceutical imports, eventually increasing it to 250%.
Novartis and Roche slipped 2.1% and 1.4%, respectively.
Trump also said he would announce tariffs on semiconductors and chips in the “next week or so.”
Data showed Germany’s June industrial orders unexpectedly fell, declining for a second straight month, highlighting the damage from increased tariffs on exports to the U.S.
Beiersdorf fell more than 10.2% ranking as the top decliner after the German consumer good maker cut its annual organic sales growth outlook.
Coca-Cola HBC dropped 9.2% despite the bottler forecasting annual organic revenue growth to be on the upper end of its expected range.
Hiscox was the top gainer on the index, gaining 7.8% after reporting a rise in first-half insurance premiums supported by its retail business growth.
(Reporting by Twesha Dikshit and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi Aich)
