On Thursday, European stocks went up slightly after the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut since December 2024. The overall European STOXX 600 index rose by 0.5% with widespread gains across different sectors.
In Denmark, Novo Nordisk’s shares increased by 2.6% after new data showed that an experimental pill version of its drug, Wegovy, helped people lose 16.6% of their weight in a study. This was a better result than what was seen in previous studies of the injectable version of the drug.
On the other hand, the SIG Group, a Swiss packaging company, saw its shares drop by 20% and trading was temporarily stopped after the company warned that its 2025 profit would be lower than expected and that it was suspending its cash dividend.
Additionally, British fashion retailer Next lost 5.5% of its share value. This happened after the company announced it expects sales growth in the UK to slow down in the second half of the year, which overshadowed its report of a 13.8% profit increase in the first half.
On the FX front, the US dollar went up on Thursday, continuing its recent rebound. This happened as traders tried to understand the Federal Reserve’s cautious approach to future interest rate cuts. The dollar had initially fallen to its lowest point since February 2022 immediately after the Fed’s announcement but then bounced back strongly.
Elsewhere, the New Zealand dollar fell sharply after new data showed the country’s economy shrank much more than expected in the second quarter. This has led to speculation that there will be more significant interest rate cuts this year. The Australian dollar also weakened after Australia’s employment numbers unexpectedly dropped in August.
After its initial drop, the dollar index climbed as much as 0.44% on the day to 97.074, and continued to rise on Thursday to 97.163.
The euro slipped 0.2% to $1.1791, after briefly jumping to its highest level since June 2021 on Wednesday in an immediate reaction to the Fed’s news.
The British pound also eased by 0.2% to $1.3604, after briefly leaping to its highest point since July 2.
The US dollar went up by 0.2% against the Japanese yen, reaching 147.245 yen in the latest trading session. This happened after it had initially weakened as much as 0.67% to its lowest point since July 7, before quickly bouncing back.
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