Europe midday: Shares pause as Novo Nordisk, defence stocks, miners in focus

(Sharecast News) - European markets were lower on Friday after a week of record highs as investors took a pause amid geopolitical tensions, while Novo Nordisk shares were in focus ahead of `US prescription data on the Danish pharma giant's Wegovy weight loss pill.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.14% to 613.72 at 1232 GMT, after hitting an intra-day high of 614.6. All major bourses were lower.

Shares closed at a record high on Thursday, boosted by tech stocks on the back of a bumper result from Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC.

"As we dive into the heart of earnings season in the coming weeks, tech results will be scrutinised in far greater detail. Recall that last earnings season delivered blowout headline numbers from Big Tech, but in some cases those figures were wearing a bit of make-up," said Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

"Think Meta offloading the bulk of its AI data-centre financing to private credit players such as Blue Owl and Pimco - and Nvidia booking revenues that have not yet turned into cash."

"Concerns around circular AI deals, leverage and delayed returns on investment remain front of mind for investors. These are compounded by rising electricity and metals costs, higher memory-chip prices, and the risk of supply disruptions - including China's threats to restrict rare-earth exports amid geopolitical tensions involving Iran and Venezuela, where China has historically sourced oil."

Tensions between Iran and the US eased as the threat of execution for arrested anti-regime protestors appeared to recede for the time being. US President Donald Trump had threated Tehran with "very strong action" if they had gone ahead, but pressure from Gulf allies fearing retaliatory strikes against American bases on their soil appeared to temper his aggression.

Meanwhile, European troops arrived in Greenland on Thursday, as Trump continued to demand annexation of the semi-autonomous Danish territory. The news boosted defence stocks with Norwegian tech defence group Kongsberg topping the Stoxx with a 6% gain. Peers BAE, Thales and Qinetiq were also higher.

A White House meeting on the future on the world's largest island ended without both sides in disagreement, still talking.

In economic news, German inflation slowed in December to 2%, the federal statistics office, confirming preliminary data. On a harmonised basis to compare with other European Union countries, inflation stood at 2.6% year-on-year in November.

Elsewhere in equities, miners slumped as copper prices fell on reports that Chinese regulators have ordered exchanges to remove servers operated by high frequency traders from their data centres. Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Anglo American and Glencore all lost ground.

Novo Nordisk rose as much as 7% as traders waiting for the data compiled by analysts to be released.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com