Global equity markets have been recently lifted by solid earnings of US firms and deal-making activity among EU drug-makers. In New York, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices have gained again thanks to the healthcare industry. Europe, in contrast, logged its biggest daily rise since early March this year as an index of top EU shares rose by 1.3 percentage points. One fifth of the companies covered by S&P 500 index have publicized their first-quarter balance sheets so far out of with about 63 percent exceeded analysts’ expectations. Although the current rate follows the 20-year mean, it is still less than the average of 66 percent of last four quarters. Mike Serio of WellsFargo Private Bank explains that this outcome can be a result of a sloppy earnings period. Yet, an increasing M&A activity in the drug sector, at minimum in the short-run, can also indicate healthy developments in the equity market.
The best performing of the ten main S&P industries, the healthcare sector, logged a 1-percent increase in the stocks. Allergan Inc rose by 15.2 percent to $163.65 a day after investor William Ackman had joined forces with the Canadian drugmaker, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, to bid for the firm. The Dow Jones industrial average index rose by 0.4 percent to attain 65.12 points while the S&P 500 increased by 7.66 points gaining 0.1 percent while the Nasdaq Composite added 39.912 points, or 0.97 percent. FTSEurofits 300 index of the best European shares closed up 1.34 percent, and MSCI’s all-country stock index increased by 0.5 percent.
