European shares climb as consumer discretionary, healthcare firms gain By Reuters

(Reuters) – European shares rose on Wednesday, lifted by healthcare and consumer discretionary firms, as investors headed into the holiday season on an upbeat note.

The region-wide index was up 0.4% at 0816 GMT.

The index ended lower in the previous session but it had recouped some of the early losses as markets steadied after an initial jolt from the Bank of Japan’s surprise tweak to its bond yield control.

Consumer discretionary firms were a big boost to the STOXX 600 on Wednesday, after Nike (NYSE:)’s upbeat quarterly sales helped drive gains in sportswear firms such as Adidas (OTC:) and Puma.

Adidas and Puma rose 5.4% and 5.9%, respectively, while JD (NASDAQ:) Sports jumped 5.8%. All three firms were the top gainers on the STOXX 600.

The healthcare sector rose 0.5%, lifted by a 4.4% jump in Philips after the Dutch health technology company said independent tests on its respiratory devices involved in a major global recall had shown positive results.