European stocks close strongest week in six months, as STOXX 600 closes at record highs

European equities wrapped up their strongest week in half a year on Friday, driven by heavy buying in healthcare and mining shares, as investors locked in wagers on another Federal Reserve rate cut later this ￰0￱ to data from Reuters, the STOXX 600 closed 0.5% higher, notching a record for the third consecutive ￰1￱ the week, the index gained 2.8%, cementing its place at the top of the global rally while hitting intraday highs along the ￰2￱ biggest surge came from healthcare ￰3￱ sector climbed 1.3% on the day, as AstraZeneca jumped 1.6% and Novo Nordisk advanced 2.1%. The momentum followed a ￰4￱ pricing deal that gave the industry breathing room from tariff and cost worries Analysts at UBS Global Wealth Management told clients: “While the Pfizer deal is not an outright ‘all clear’ signal for the sector, with key details lacking on the tariffs, a boost in near-term sentiment and robust long-term drivers should support a positive outlook.” That line perfectly captures why healthcare shares outpaced every other sector across Europe this ￰5￱ and banks push European markets higher Banks were not left out of the ￰6￱ sector added 1%, with Raiffeisen Bank standing out after surging 7.4%.

The rally came as the Financial Times reported the European Union is weighing the removal of sanctions on assets tied to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska in an effort to compensate the Austrian ￰7￱ Amro also moved sharply, climbing 2.7% after Goldman Sachs reversed its stance on the Dutch bank, upgrading it to a “buy” rating from “sell.” Mining companies joined the ￰8￱ Basic Resources index, home to Europe’s leading mining stocks, rose 1.7% as prices for base metals pushed ￰9￱ gains helped narrow the performance gap between Europe and the United States, with the STOXX 600 now up 12.4% for the year compared with a 14.7% rise in the U. S. S&P ￰10￱ focus on Fed as ￰11￱ delays jobs data The picture in Washington added more ￰12￱ ￰13￱ shutdown delayed the release of a key jobs report that had been expected on ￰14￱ report is vital for the Federal Reserve, which is tracking labor market trends to guide its next monetary ￰15￱ with the delay, investors leaned into the expectation that the Fed will deliver another rate ￰16￱ Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said, “It does very much feel that the market is looking past the ongoing ￰17￱ shutdown and focusing on Fed rate cut expectations.” Traders backed that ￰18￱ CME FedWatch Tool showed market bets pricing in an almost certain cut before the end of the month, a shift that followed a weaker-than-expected private payrolls report earlier in the ￰19￱ over looser ￰20￱ combined with Europe’s healthcare rally sent the STOXX 600 surging to new ￰21￱ data across the continent painted a mixed ￰22￱ in the euro zone services sector accelerated to an eight-month high in September, with Germany’s services sector also recording its fastest expansion in eight ￰23￱ France’s services industry contracted more sharply than first thought, and in Britain, business activity grew at its slowest pace in five ￰24￱ individual movers, Sofina dropped by 3.2%, one of the weakest showings on the STOXX ￰25￱ investment company’s decline came after it announced a 545-million-euro ($639.67 million) rights issue, leaving the stock near the bottom of the ￰26￱ up to Bybit and start trading with $30,050 in welcome gifts