European stocks were little changed on Friday, paring a weekly advance, as slides in healthcare and commodity-producer shares offset gains in media companies.
A gauge of healthcare stocks was the biggest drag on the STOXX Europe 600 Index, as Novartis AG and AstraZeneca Plc retreated. Outokumpu Oyj and Anglo American PLC paced miners lower. Abengoa SA and SBM Offshore NV led oil and energy-related companies down. Schibsted ASA pushed a measure of media stocks higher after announcing a deal for joint ventures in online classifieds across four countries.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1 percent to 335.63 at the close of trading on Friday, paring its weekly gain to 0.1 percent. The measure has rebounded 8.3 percent from this year’s low on Oct. 16, as the Bank of Japan unexpectedly boosted its stimulus and most lenders in Europe passed capital-strength tests.
“Today [Friday] is driven by the indecision of investors to be in or out of the market,” Ion-Marc Valahu, a cofounder and fund manager at Clairinvest in Geneva, wrote in an e-mail. “We’ve been up and down this week. Investors are thinking that it is not a good reason to be investing in the market just because November and December are historically among the two best months to invest. The flow is going towards the US.”
National benchmark indices rose in 12 of the 18 western European markets on Friday. The UK’s FTSE 100 added 0.3 percent, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.4 percent and Germany’s DAX climbed 0.1 percent.
A measure of healthcare companies fell the most of the 19 industry groups on the STOXX 600. Novartis slipped 0.8 percent to 90.45 Swiss francs, and AstraZeneca fell 1.6 percent to ￡46.555.
A gauge of commodity producers registered the second-largest decline on the STOXX 600 amid concern that slowing global growth would hurt demand. Outokumpu fell 2.5 percent to 3.82 euros. Anglo American dropped 0.4 percent to ￡13.55, for the biggest drag on the measure of mining companies.
Among energy stocks, Abengoa tumbled 37 percent to 1.50 euros — its lowest price since July last year — amid confusion over the degree of security offered to investors in one of the Spanish power-plant developer’s bonds.
SBM Offshore slid 3.9 percent to 11.55 euros amid concern that an investigation into allegations that it bribed Brazilian officials to get work may prevent it from competing for contracts with state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA.
Nokia Oyj fell 5.5 percent to 6.28 euros. The Finnish company’s increased earnings target failed to convince investors seeking support for a stock that has gained about 28 percent since a low in February.
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