Europe hesitates, disappointment in China, Sanofi rises
June 20, 2023 at 01:25 pm IST
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Europe's main stock markets wavered at the start of trading on Tuesday, with Sanofi up in Paris, chemical industry stocks down and concerns about the Chinese economy.
In Paris, the CAC 40 nibbled 0.03% to 7,316.31 points at 07:47 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 gained 0.12%, while in Frankfurt, the Dax was down 0.31%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index was down by 0.01%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.09% and the Stoxx 600 by 0.09%.
In a long-awaited decision, the People's Bank of China announced a ten-basis-point cut in two benchmark rates.
This new measure, designed to revive a slowing economy, weighed on market sentiment at a time when many observers were anticipating a larger cut in the five-year rate.
"I don't think rate cuts are going to move the needle," said Redmond Wong at Saxo Markets, adding that a 15 basis point cut would have sent a "stronger message" that could have improved sentiment in China's real estate sector.
Among the stocks that stood out on the Paris Bourse, Sanofi gained 2.37% to lead the CAC 40, after an arbitrary court rejected Boehringer Ingelheim's claim for compensation in the ongoing Zantac litigation in the United States.
Neoen , which raised its adjusted EBITDA forecast to over €700 million for 2025, gained 4.33%.
Conversely, German group Lanxess fell 15.23% in Frankfurt after lowering its Ebitda forecasts for the second quarter and full year, citing persistent very weak demand.
In its wake, the European chemicals sector fell by 1.67%. Clariant , BASF and Covestro
dropped by 2.51% to 6.13%. (Laetitia Volga, edited by Blandine Hénault)
Sanofi is the largest European pharmaceutical group. Net sales by family of products break down as follows:
- pharmaceutical products (70.6%): prescription drugs in the areas of specialty medicine (59.3% of net sales; for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, neurological diseases, inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, rare diseases, cancers and rare hematological diseases) and general medicine (40.7%; mainly for the treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases);
- human vaccines (17.4%): pediatric vaccines, vaccines for flu, meningitis, and polio, booster vaccines, and vaccines for travelers and endemic areas;
- consumer health products (12%).
At the end of 2023, the group had 54 production sites throughout the world.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: France (5.5%), Europe (18.6%), the United States (43%), North America (1.6%) and other (31.3%).