(Reuters) – European shares jumped on Wednesday after Ukraine accepted the U.S.’ proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, while Zealand Pharma gained after a collaboration deal with Roche.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.6%, as of 0815 GMT. The benchmark index lost 1.7% in the previous session after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum products.
A majority of sectors on the index clocked gains in early trading, led by 1.1% jump in the index of European banks.
Zealand Pharma jumped 34% after Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche acquired rights to an obesity therapy by the Danish biotech firm in a collaboration deal worth up to $5.3 billion. Shares of Roche were up 4%.
Europe’s retail-focused index was an outlier and fell 2.8%. Puma tumbled 22% to an eight-year low after the German sportswear group gave a disappointing outlook for first-quarter sales.
Porsche fell 4.5% after the luxury carmaker said its extensive restructuring, as well as trade tensions and intensifying competition in China, will weigh on 2025 earnings.
Meanwhile, all eyes were on a key U.S. inflation data later in the day, where any higher-than-expected reading might fuel concerns of stagflation in the world’s largest economy.
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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