By Johann M Cherian
(Reuters) -European shares edged higher on Monday, supported by healthcare stocks after data showed Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug Wegovy offered better heart-protective benefits than rival treatments from U.S.-based Eli Lilly.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.35% at 552.07, as of 0853 GMT, with healthcare stocks rising 0.82% to emerge as the top sectoral performers.
Shares of Novo Nordisk, the fourth-largest healthcare company on the STOXX index, climbed 2.87% after the company said Wegovy cut the risk of heart attack, stroke or death by 57% versus Eli Lilly’s rival medicines Mounjaro and Zepbound in a real-world comparison.
The findings could provide a boost for Novo that has cut its full-year forecasts for the second time this year as it struggles to convince investors in a highly-competitive obesity drug market.
Denmark’s main stock index gained 1.8%, also aided by Novo’s domestic peer Zealand Pharma that rose 4.9% in early trade.
The big news on the other side of the Atlantic was that a U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that most of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, although allowed them to remain in place until mid-October to permit further appeals.
Trump has vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court and trade experts say the administration is preparing alternative plans to be able to proceed with its tariffs.
“We know that Donald Trump has got ways to go around the tariffs and impose the tariffs anyway by using other tools and other rules. So it does not mean that the U.S. will back down,” said Swissquote Bank senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
The European Union has struck a deal with the U.S., while the Swiss continue to negotiate, although broader trade uncertainty has subsided since April.
Goldman Sachs was the latest among major brokerages to raise its STOXX 600 target for next 12 months, lifting it to 580 from 570.
Meanwhile, defence stocks gained 1.6%, with Britain’s BAE Systems up 2.7%, as Norway said it had chosen Britain for the acquisition of new frigates, in a deal worth some 10 billion pounds ($13.51 billion).
Orsted gained 3% after Norway’s Equinor pledged to support its planned $9.4 billion rights issue as the Danish offshore wind developer seeks to bolster its balance sheet as both companies navigate regulatory hurdles in the U.S. offshore wind market.
Shares of fast-food chain Domino’s Pizza rose 4.5% after the company reaffirmed its 2025 forecast.
On the data front, euro zone manufacturing activity expanded in August for the first time since mid-2022 due to a surge in domestic demand and output.
Trading is expected to be light throughout the day due to a U.S. holiday.
(Reporting by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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