(Reuters) – Europe’s opened lower on Friday, dragged by technology and healthcare stocks, keeping the index on track for its fourth successive weekly drop.
The pan-European STOXX 600 benchmark index slipped 0.9%, as of 0811 GMT, hovering near a three-month low hit earlier this week.
The technology sub-index dropped 1.6%, with chipmaker ASML (AS:) among top decliners after U.S. firm Applied Materials (NASDAQ:) forecast first-quarter revenue below estimates.
Healthcare stocks shed 2.3%, with Bavarian Nordic (CSE:) sliding 15.5% after the Danish biotech firm reported third-quarter results.
European vaccine makers came under pressure after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he has selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Sanofi (NASDAQ:) fell 4.4%, while GSK lost 3.8%.
Also adding to losses was a lower close on Wall Street overnight after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank does not need to rush to lower interest rates.
Meanwhile, Evotec jumped more than 20% after Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:) said it has proposed to buy the German drug developer for about 2 billion euros ($2.11 billion).
($1 = 0.9471 euros)
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