Description

▸ Phar­ma­ceut­ical groups push Stoxx 600 and FTSE 100 to all-time peaks

▸ Treas­ury bonds rally after weaker than expec­ted US employ­ment data

▸ Wall Street indices mixed after claw­ing back losses from earlier in ses­sion

European and UK stocks jumped to fresh record highs yes­ter­day, buoyed by phar­ma­ceut­ical stocks after Pres­id­ent Don­ald Trump announced a new dir­ectto-con­sumer drug sales pro­gramme.

The US gov­ern­ment’s agree­ment with Pfizer to lower drug prices and sell medi­cines dir­ectly to patients is expec­ted to be rep­lic­ated by other phar­ma­ceut­ical com­pan­ies.

Wash­ing­ton said it was nego­ti­at­ing higher prices for drugs sold to G7 coun­tries plus Switzer­land and the Neth­er­lands to coun­ter­act the lower US rev­en­ues for pharma com­pan­ies.

The pan-regional Stoxx Europe 600 index climbed 1.2 per cent while Lon­don’s FTSE 100 gained 1 per cent — with both indices clos­ing at all-time highs.