Europe’s STOXX 600 ends at record high, lifted by healthcare, chemical stocks
STOXX 600 climbs 0.2%
Germany’s DAX falls after 11 sessions of gains
Luxury sector under spotlight after Saks bankruptcy
Healthcare and chemical stocks lead STOXX 600 gains
Jan 14 (Reuters) – European shares closed at a record high on Wednesday, buoyed by gains in chemicals and healthcare stocks, while investors also monitored the repercussions of simmering geopolitical tensions globally.
EMS Chemie (EMSN.S), opens new tab surged 8% and was among top performers on the STOXX index after UBS upgraded the Swiss chemical group to “buy” from “hold”. Chemical companies were also among top gainers on the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab.
On the earnings front, Finnish drugmaker Orion (ORNBV.HE), opens new tab climbed 12% to its highest since October, following a better-than-expected revenue forecast for 2026.
Michael Field, European equity market strategist at Morningstar, said the market was digesting some of the news around the trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur trade bloc in Latin America, which capped a quarter-century of talks.
It “allows those sectors – pharma, some industrials and indeed chemicals – to export more over time without the same trade barriers or tariffs,” Field said.
Among regional markets, Germany’s DAX index (.GDAXI), opens new tab witnessed declines after logging its longest daily winning streak in more than a decade on Tuesday. The DAX closed 0.5% lower, weighed by technology stocks such as SAP (SAPG.DE), opens new tab and Infineon (IFXGn.DE), opens new tab.
Meanwhile, traders were digesting the bankruptcy of high-end department store conglomerate Saks Global, to which Gucci-owner Kering (PRTP.PA), opens new tab and the world’s biggest luxury conglomerate LVMH (LVMH.PA), opens new tab were listed as unsecured creditors.
“The situation raises concerns about consumer demand, especially at the higher end of the market, and about extreme competition in the space, including from e-commerce,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
Investors were also eyeing geopolitical developments in Venezuela and Iran, with most of the impact seen in commodity prices.
Utility companies RWE (RWEG.DE), opens new tab and SSE (SSE.L), opens new tab added 2.3% and 2% respectively. They were among the project developers to win guaranteed electricity price contracts in Britain’s latest offshore wind power auction, which secured a record capacity.
British education company Pearson (PSON.L), opens new tab dropped 9.5% after its biggest division lost a contract with New Jersey.
Reporting by Niket Nishant, Avinash P and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; editing by Janane Venkatraman, Harikrishnan Nair and Mark Heinrich
Niket Nishant reports on breaking news and the quarterly earnings of Wall Street’s largest banks, card companies, financial technology upstarts and asset managers. He also covers the biggest IPOs on U.S. exchanges, and late-stage venture capital funding alongside news and regulatory developments in the cryptocurrency industry. His writing appears on the finance, business, markets and future of money sections of the website. He did his post-graduation from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media (IIJNM) in Bengaluru.
PARIS — Czechoslovak Group, the Prague-based maker of Tatra military vehicles and one of Europe’s largest ammunition manufacturers, plans to seek a stock-market listing in coming weeks as the company looks to boost international visibility and secure funding for future growth. The company expects to sell €750 million ($874 million) of new shares, with current
The company made a dramatic change to its revenue guidance, a move very much noticed by analysts and investors. Investors were eager to buy shares of e-commerce artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Rezolve AI (RZLV +11.54%) on Hump Day. This came on the heels of two bullish analyst notes published before market open that morning. With
Broadcom stock got hit with multiple bearish catalysts today. Broadcom (AVGO 4.15%) stock got hit with a significant pullback in Wednesday’s trading. The company’s share price fell 4.1% in the daily session. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 declined 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite sank 1%. Volatility connected to bank stock earnings dragged the market lower, and
On Jan. 14, 2026, investors weighed fresh AI server demand signals and foundry wins that sharpen the stakes of Intel’s turnaround. Today’s Change (3.02%) $1.43 Current Price $48.72 Key Data Points Market Cap $236B Day’s Range $47.42 – $49.00 52wk Range $17.66 – $49.00 Volume 148M Avg Vol 91M Gross Margin 35.58% Intel (INTC +3.02%),
CNBC’s Jim Cramer parsed Wednesday’s session and expressed concern about the sectors that led the market’s gains, saying “the wrong stocks are going higher.” “This was a market where the winners were consumer packaged goods stocks and the oils – the worst possible leadership groups,” he said. “The consumer packaged good plays are recession stocks,
This ETF can help build long-term wealth while still protecting against volatility. The stock market has been thriving in recent years, but some investors worry that the next downturn is around the corner. While nobody can say what stocks will do in the short term, a market slump is inevitable at some point. If the
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the Justice Department’s investigation is another attack on the central bank’s independence. The S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.86%) inched higher on Jan. 12, despite reports that U.S. prosecutors are investigating Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell concerning his testimony about the ongoing renovation of two central bank buildings. News of the
Stock splits can cause a stock to rally in the short term. The “Magnificent Seven” stocks are a popular grouping that makes up some of the biggest and most prominent names in the stock market. It includes: Nvidia (NVDA 1.90%) Alphabet (GOOG 0.39%) (GOOGL 0.37%) Apple (AAPL 1.46%) Microsoft (MSFT 2.08%) Amazon (AMZN 2.21%) Meta