Volatile European Indexes Close Flat, Philips Lighting Surges 10% on Debut

Lucy Stoeva
27 May, 2016
New York City

European stocks closed flat and banks and resource sectors were in focus in the region. Roche AG announced positive results for a new blood cancer drug. Adidas sold its U.S.-based Mitchell & Ness. Philips Lighting jumped 10% to on its first day of trading.

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt, Germany – European stocks closed flat and banks and resource sectors were in focus in the region. Roche AG announced positive results for a new blood cancer drug. Adidas sold its U.S.-based Mitchell & Ness. Philips Lighting jumped 10% to on its first day of trading.[/R]

European stocks closed flat after a choppy trading session Friday, ahead of the speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Yellen is scheduled to deliver a speech at Harvard University 6:15 p.m. London time, after the markets close.

In Amsterdam, Philips Lighting jumped 10% above the initial price on its first day of trading. Royal Philips NV sold 25% of its stake in lighting division.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche AG jumped 4% to 263.40 Swiss francs on positive results for a new blood cancer drug.

In the same sector, Novartis and Sanofi gained 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.

Banco Popular extended losses by 8.2% on the second day after plunging 26% on the announcement of a capital increase.

Adidas inched down 0.2% after the German sportswear company sold the U.S.-based Mitchell & Ness.

The euro lost 0.7 % against the dollar to $1.1113.

In London, the FTSE 100 index edged up 5.14, or 0.08%, to 6,270.79, while in Frankfurt, the DAX index added 13.60, or 0.13%, to 10,286.31.

In Paris, the CAC 40 index rose 2.10, or 0.05%, to 4,514.74.

The major markets ended the week on a positive note.

The FTSE 100 index recorded a weakly gain of 1.9%, the German DAX index advanced 4%, and the French CAC 40 index closed 3.9% higher.

Stock markets in the U.K. and the U.S. will remain closed on Monday in observance of national holidays.

Adidas AG inched down 0.3% to €115.65 after the German sportswear company sold U.S.-based apparel firm Mitchell & Ness to a new company, owned by private equity firm Juggernaut Capital Partners.

Adidas said that it would use the proceeds of the sale for the development of its strategy called ""Creating the New.""

""Nostalgia headwear and apparel is not core to this strategy and the sale of Mitchell & Ness will allow us to reduce complexity and pursue our target consumer more aggressively with our core brands,"" Adidas said.

Philips Lighting jumped 10% to €22 on its first day of trading. The IPO represents Royal Philips NV selling its lighting division by offering a total of 37.5 million shares, or 25% stake in the unit.

Philips said on Thursday that the offering was multiple times oversubscribed, with strong demand from both institutional and retail investors.

""We''re moving from a product sale to a systems and service sales where we''re going to be present on the full life cycle,"" said CEO Eric Rondolat.

Roche Holding AG jumped 4% to 263.40 Swiss francs after the pharmaceutical company announced that a clinical trial testing its new blood cancer drug Gazyva has been “successful.”