By Johann M Cherian and Tristan Veyet
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, September 10, 2025. REUTERS
(Reuters)
- European shares slipped in choppy trading on Friday, weighed by a
drop in healthcare stocks, while investors also braced for Fitch's
credit rating verdict on France later in the day.
After rising nearly 0.2% earlier in the day, the pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) reversed course and was last down 0.2% to 554.8 points, as of 0845 GMT. Healthcare stocks (.SXDP) weighed the most, slipping 0.6%.
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis (NOVN.S) lost 2.6% after Goldman Sachs' downgrade, citing rising competition from generics.
Luxury stocks (.STXLUXP) also declined 1% with L.V.M.H (LVMH.PA) and Richemont (CFR.S) down 0.5% and 1.6%, respectively after brokerage UBS said it was "a least preferred sector".
However, on a weekly basis, the benchmark index was on track for its first rise in three weeks after U.S. labour data on Thursday cemented market expectations of a Fed rate cut next week.
"The
U.S. is facing a weaker labour market that is now overpowering the
inflationary impact of the tariffs," said Craig Cameron, portfolio
manager at Templeton Global Equity Group.
"So
there's obviously various different factors pushing and pulling on
that, but our expectation is at least one rate cut in September."
Focus
has been greater on U.S. monetary policy as eurozone inflation hovers
close to the European Central Bank's 2% target and investors see a
potential policy easing only sometime next year. The ECB left interest
rates unchanged on Thursday and offered no clues about its next move.
Among sectors, aerospace and defence (.SXPARO) was
marginally higher. It is on track for its largest weekly rise in over
four months, up 5.4% so far, as simmering geopolitical tensions after
Poland shot down a possible Russian drone, sparked a rally.
Fitch's
rating review of French credit is due later in the day, with market
participants bracing for a potential downgrade. The country appointed its fifth prime minister in under two years as governments struggled to unite over plans for debt-fuelled fiscal spending.
However, French stocks (.FCHI) are set for a weekly gain of about 1.3%, outperforming the STOXX index.
"The
French market remains at a meaningful discount to the global market.
There is certainly some discount priced in for political challenges and
budget problems. The other point is that (French companies) have a very
international market and so their direct France exposure is quite
small," Cameron said.
Among others, UK's Ocado (OCDO.L) slid 10% after U.S. partner Kroger (KR.N) flagged it will review its warehouse investments.
(This story has been corrected to fix story links in paragraphs 8 and 9)
Reporting by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk, Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Harikrishnan Nair
