European shares flat as healthcare gains counter broader market weakness – News Air Insight

European shares were flat on Wednesday, with gains in heavyweight healthcare stocks offsetting the decline in the broader market, as investors fretted over a potential delay in the closely-watched U.S. jobs data.

The pan-European STOXX 600 held steady at 557.9 points by 0711 GMT, after posting its third successive monthly gain in September.

Local bourses were mixed. Germany’s DAX was down 0.5%, while the UK’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.2% to an all-time high.

Healthcare stocks jumped 2.7% after Pfizer and U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said they had cut a deal in which the drugmaker agreed to lower prescription drug prices.

Separately, Novartis gained 2.8% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Swiss drugmaker’s oral treatment for patients with a type of chronic inflammatory skin disease.

On the data front, British house prices rose slightly faster than expected in September, while a key inflation reading for the eurozone is due later in the day. A U.S. private payrolls report due later in the day could gather more attention in the absence of Friday’s non-farm payrolls report, as the U.S. government shut down much of its operations on Wednesday.