European shares start week lower as healthcare sector weighs

By Shubham Batra and Bansari Mayur Kamdar

(Reuters) -European shares slipped on Monday, hurt by weakness in healthcare stocks, while real estate stocks limited losses as they were supported by sharp gains in UK property portal Rightmove (OTC:).

The pan-European index eased 0.3%, with healthcare shares sliding 0.6%.

Evotec and AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:) shed 3.2% and 2.0%, respectively, on target price cuts by Jefferies, while shares of Bayer (OTC:) fell 3.0% as Berenberg cut its price target.

Capping losses, UK-based Rightmove was the top gainer with a 4.8% rise, after the property portal lifted its forecast for annual average revenue per advertiser.

“It has long been argued that Rightmove could do well in both good and bad market conditions,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“When times are good, it benefits from a steady flow of properties being advertised on its portal. During tougher times, estate agents and home developers need to work harder to attract potential buyers, and that means spending more on advertising.”

The real estate sector gained 1.2%.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said euro zone inflation pressures are easing as expected, but wage growth is still strong and the outlook is especially uncertain, so the ECB’s fight to contain price growth is not yet done.

Also weighing on sentiment globally, data showed profit at China’s industrial firms grew at a slower pace in October, sparking concerns about a recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

Investors will closely monitor inflation data from Germany and the broader region this week, while also tracking the ongoing budget saga in the country after a constitutional court ruling this month that threw Berlin’s financial plans into disarray.

Other events in focus this week include a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday, U.S. third-quarter GDP and personal consumption expenditure (PCE) report.

Among other movers, shares of BASF slid 3.1% after Morgan Stanley cut the German chemicals group to “underweight” from “equal-weight”.

Shares of Casino shed 6.3% after the debt-burdened French retailer said it had received expressions of interest for the acquisition of its hypermarket and supermarket stores, declining to name the bidders and the number of stores it intended to sell.