(Bloomberg) — European stocks turned higher in a volatile Friday session as a rebound in drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S helped counter weakness in carmakers.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.9% by the close. Novo jumped 5.3% after having lost as much as a quarter of its market value during the week over concerns about a copycat version of its Wegovy obesity pill. Svenska Handelsbanken AB raised its recommendation on the stock to buy from sell.
Construction stocks, energy and banks led the gains. Autos were the biggest laggards as Stellantis NV plunged 25% after announcing roughly €22 billion ($25.9 billion) in charges linked to a sweeping overhaul amid high costs and muted electric-vehicle sales.
French group Vinci SA led the outperformance in construction shares, rallying 9.9% on strong 2025 earnings.
Europe’s benchmark index has outperformed US peers that have been hurt by a selloff in technology shares. The region’s equity funds attracted $4.2 billion of inflows, the largest since April, in the week through Wednesday, according to a note from Bank of America Corp. citing EPFR Global.
“Europe has much less exposure to tech than the US so it makes sense that it’s outperforming at the moment,” said Laurent Lamagnere, deputy chief executive officer at Alphavalue in Paris. “That being said, AI winners are in China and the US, not Europe, so in the long term, the position of European stock markets isn’t that favorable.”
In other individual stocks, Kongsberg Gruppen ASA shares soared by 16% after the Norwegian firm reported strong results, boosted by its defense and aerospace strength.
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–With assistance from Rose Henderson.
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