Stocks listed in Europe were broadly higher on Friday, as investors assessed the latest trade policy announcements out of the White House.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up by 0.2% by around 10:00 a.m. London time (5 a.m. ET), with most sectors in positive territory.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Healthcare index saw rocky trade in the morning, oscillating above and below the flatline. It was last seen trading 0.2% lower.
Overnight, President Donald Trump announced that pharmaceutical imports to the U.S. would be hit with 100% tariffs from Oct. 1. Companies who built manufacturing facilities in America would be exempt, Trump said, but only once they started breaking ground on the construction of U.S. plants.
Previously, Trump had threatened to impose tariffs of up to 200% on pharma imports.
Denmark’s Zealand Pharma was last seen down 2.5%, while Novo Nordisk and Finland’s Orion were also trading more than 2% lower on Friday morning.
However, in a note circulated in the wake of Trump’s announcements, JP Morgan strategists downplayed the impact the new tariffs would have on the pharmaceutical sector.
The “potential 100% tariff should largely be avoidable with us based manufacturing buildout,” they said. “And while there remain a number of unknowns on tonight’s announcement … we continue to see a very manageable overall impact from tariffs to our large cap coverage.”
Trump also announced on his Truth Social platform on Thursday night that heavy trucks would be slapped with 25% tariffs from next month.
The European Union’s own trade policies are also in focus, after German newspaper Handelsblatt reported that the bloc was planning to impose tariffs of up to 50% on Chinese steel in the coming weeks.
On Thursday, European stocks closed lower following the Trump administration’s launch of a national security probe into medical device imports, which could pave the way for further tariffs.
Overnight in Asia, pharma stocks notched losses as investors reacted to the looming U.S. tariffs on the sector.
In terms of economic data, Friday will see the release of Spain’s latest inflation print, U.K. mortgage lending figures, and a report on European economic sentiment.
