Europe midday: Pharma stocks slide on Kennedy pick as US health chief

European equity markets trimmed losses on Friday with pharma stocks lower on news that Robert F. Kennedy Jr – who has made misleading statements on vaccines – had been appointed as Donald Trump’s head of health.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.46% at 504.64.

Trump late on Thursday nominated Kennedy, who last year said he believe autism was caused by vaccines and has made a raft of other unsubstantiated statements, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in his new administration when it takes power next January.

Pharmaceutical stocks such as GSK, Sanofi, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, UCB, Sartorius Stedim, Zealand Pharma and Roche were all knocked by the news.

In positive news for the sector, shares in Evotec surged as the German drug developer received an €11-per-share offer from Halozyme Therapeutics, valuing the company at about €2bn.

In other equity news, Generali jumped as the Italian insurer posted better-than-expected nine-month profits.

London stocks rallied from morning losses as data showed that economic growth in the UK unexpectedly slowed in the third quarter.

Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed the economy grew by 0.1% in the last quarter, slightly below expectations.

Growth in the three months to September had been led by strength in the retail trade, excluding motor vehicles, and new construction work. Output in the construction sector jumped 0.8%.

The 0.1% uptick was, however, below second-quarter growth of 0.2%. It also missed analyst expectations for a 0.2% improvement.

Sentiment was also dampened by the European Commission cutting its economic growth forecast for the eurozone next year, and warned that projections could be reduced further in the event of increased protectionist measures – such as the import tariffs proposed by Trump.

Eurozone GDP growth is expected to pick up to 1.3% in 2025, from an estimated 0.8% this year, slightly below the Commission’s previous 1.4% forecast.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com