LONDON — European stocks moved higher on Tuesday, building on positive momentum from the start of the week.
Defense stocks extended Monday’s gains, with the Stoxx Europe Aerospace and Defense index last seen trading 1% higher, recovering from an earlier dip below the flatline. Switzerland’s Montana AerospaceRenk was last seen up by 0.4%, paring earlier losses, while Italian defense contractor Leonardo
Regional defense stocks had been among the strong movers on Monday, amid the market debut of TKMSThyssenkrupp — and following another tense meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend.
In corporate news, Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk was 1% lower in afternoon trade. It came after the company announced it would hold an Extraordinary General Meeting on Nov. 14 to elect new members of its Board of Directors, following a dispute between existing members and Novo’s controlling shareholder.
“Following dialogue with the Novo Nordisk Foundation regarding the future composition of the Board of Directors, it has not been possible to reach a common understanding,” Chairman Helge Lund said in a statement on Tuesday.
Lund and several other members of the independent board will not stand for reelection at the upcoming EGM.
UK borrowing rises
In the U.K., official data released on Tuesday showed that public sector borrowing hit £20.2 billion ($27 billion) last month — the highest level for any September since records began in 1997. The figure brought public borrowing in the first half of the financial year up to £99.8 billion, up 13% from the same period a year earlier, marking the second-highest April to September borrowing figure since records began.
It was, however, in line with a forecast made in March by Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
It comes as the country’s Finance Minister Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver her crucial Autumn Budget, which will impose measures aimed at bringing the government’s expenditure bill and public debt under control.
Thomas Pugh, chief economist at consulting firm RSM UK, said in a note that the data was “a little bit of good news” for Reeves, given that spending was in line with forecasts, but he added that the figures “paint a picture of deteriorating public finances.”
“Looking ahead to the budget in the autumn, we are pencilling in tax increases of around £30bn,” he said.
Yields on U.K. government bonds, known as gilts, were little changed across the curve on Tuesday morning. Longer maturity 30-year gilts
The British pound
— CNBC’s Nur Hikmah Md Ali, Hugh Leask and Pia Singh contributed to this market report.
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