European drugmakers advanced this week after GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Europe's biggest pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca Plc, the second largest, and Roche Holding AG raised sales and profit forecasts.
Cie de Saint-Gobain SA, the world's biggest glassmaker, and DSM NV, the largest maker of drug ingredients, paced the week's declines among some exporters as the dollar slipped 2.7 percent against the euro to its lowest in three weeks.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index dropped 29.55, or 1.2 percent, to 2407.11, trimming its advance for the week to 0.1 percent. The Stoxx 600 declined 0.8 percent to 205.79, cutting the weekly gain to 0.3 percent.
Drug companies led gains among the Stoxx 600's 18 industry groups. GlaxoSmithKline, Roche and AstraZeneca were among the top 10 performers on the Stoxx 50 after reporting profit that beat analysts' estimates because of sales growth and cost cuts.
"It shows the darkest period is over for big pharmaceuticals for a while," said Youri Amerijckx, who manages US$460 million of healthcare stocks, including Roche Holding, at KBC Asset Management, Belgium's largest asset manager by market share.
Before this week, the Stoxx 600 Healthcare Index had dropped 1.8 percent in 2003, while the Stoxx 600 gained 1.7 percent.
Benchmark indexes fell in 13 of the 17 Western European markets on Friday. Germany's DAX slipped 0.5 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 declined 0.4 percent, and France's CAC dropped 1.5 percent.
September futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index of companies based in the 12 countries sharing the euro shed 0.9 percent to 2452. The index dropped 1.6 percent to 2442.13.
Drug companies
GlaxoSmithKline was the fourth-best performer in the Stoxx 50 this week, climbing 4 percent. Europe's biggest drugmaker said Wednesday full-year earnings per share may exceed the "high single digit" growth it forecast in April. The shares slid 1.3 percent to UK Pound 12.15 on Friday.
AstraZeneca, Europe's second-biggest drugmaker, climbed 2.6 percent this week. The company boosted its full-year outlook after second-quarter profit fell less than analysts expected. The stock dropped 0.6 percent on Friday to UK Pound 24.94.
Roche, the world's biggest maker of cancer drugs, slipped 1.3 percent to 111.25 Swiss francs, for a 3 percent weekly gain. The company Wednesday raised the estimate for its Mabthera blood-cancer medicine to Sf4.5 billion (US$3.3 billion) and for Pegasys, a hepatitis C treatment, to Sf2 billion.
"Drug developers provide defense against all the economic uncertainty out there and on top of that they are releasing good earnings: that makes them a good bet," said Miguel Angel Castro, who helps manage the equivalent of US$577 million at Renta 4 SA in Madrid, which recently bought AstraZeneca shares.
Dollar hurts some
A declining dollar might outweigh any benefit to European companies from an expanding US economy, eroding earnings generated in the US and making their products more expensive.
Saint-Gobain, founded in 1665 to produce mirrors in French King Louis XIV's palace in Versailles, slipped 1.8 percent to 33.10 euros, for a weekly slide of 4.2 percent. The company, whose products include perfume bottles and roof shingles, expects full-year profit to drop after first-half earnings fell 5.6 percent to 470 million euros (US$541 million).
DSM sank 3.4 percent to 40.17 euros after saying third-quarter profit may drop more than 25 percent from 68 million euros in the second quarter. The shares gained 1.4 percent in the week.
Exchange rates
Rhodia SA, France's biggest specialty-chemicals maker, dropped 4.6 percent to 5.38 euros after saying the second half is proving more difficult than anticipated, partly because of changes in demand and foreign exchange rates. It posted a second-quarter net loss of 87 million euros, hurt by increased petrochemical prices. The stock lost 5.1 percent this week.
Siemens, Germany's biggest electronics and engineering company, dropped 0.2 percent to 49.00 euros, trimming its gain for the week to 3.4 percent. The company said Thursday fiscal third-quarter net income fell 13 percent to 632 million euros, beating the 454 million-euro average estimate by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Renault SA, France's No. 2 carmaker, climbed 3.8 percent to 49.8 euros. The company said first-half net income rose 32 percent to 1.18 billion euros, boosted by affiliate Nissan Motor Co, which almost tripled earnings. First-half net income beat the 1.1 billion-euro median forecast of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The stock added 3.8 percent this week.
Insurers
Legal & General Group Plc Thursday predicted sales of financial products will rise, lifting shares of UK rivals such as Prudential Plc, the country's largest insurer, and Aviva Plc.
Legal & General, the UK's fourth-largest insurer, climbed 4.6 percent to UK Pound 0.97, bringing its weekly advance to 8.7 percent.
The company said it expects demand to improve in the second half.
First-half operating profit rose 1 percent to UK Pound 365 million (US$587 million). Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected profit of UK Pound 364 million.
Prudential Plc, the largest UK insurer by premium income, climbed 1.6 percent to UK Pound 4.33, for a weekly gain of 3.3 percent.
Aviva Plc, the country's second-biggest insurer, added 1.7 percent to UK Pound 4.9725, for a 4.3 percent rise since last Friday.
Zeltia SA, a Spanish company developing cancer treatments from marine life, slumped 19 percent to 5.79 euros. The rejection of its most advanced drug, Yondelis, by the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products raised concern about the company's ability to continue funding research. The stock fell 6.2 percent this week.
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