LONDON – European markets opened in positive territory on Wednesday as investors reflected on a volatile year during shortened trading hours on Christmas Eve.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was almost 0.1% higher at the opening bell.
The benchmark hit a new all-time high on Tuesday, buoyed by a soaring share price after Copenhagen-listed Novo Nordisk received FDA approval for its first-ever GLP-1 pill. Novo Nordisk shares continued to rise on Wednesday, ending up more than 9%.
french pharmaceutical company sanofi The company announced on Tuesday that it would acquire US company Dynavax in a deal worth $2.2 billion. Dynavax is marketing an adult hepatitis B vaccine and a shingles vaccine candidate. Sanofi shares fell 1% in early trading.
gold and silver Futures prices hit new highs in both Monday and Tuesday trading, and have since fallen sharply. They were last traded at $4,514.7 and $72.155 per ounce, respectively.
Thierry Breton, a former European Union commissioner promoting the Digital Services Act, and anti-disinformation activists have had their visas suspended by the United States for allegedly censoring American social media platforms. The incident comes as President Donald Trump continues to tighten travel restrictions on foreign travelers and criticizes Europe.
“For too long, European ideologues have led a systematic effort to force the American platform to punish American views they disagree with, and the Trump administration will no longer tolerate such outrageous acts of censorship,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in X, without naming anyone. Deputy Public Diplomacy Secretary Sarah Rogers later identified the five people affected.
Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher as several indexes were scheduled to close early due to the Christmas Eve holiday. U.S. stock futures traded nearly flat overnight, even though the S&P 500 index also hit a record close.
