European Stocks Poorly Performing, And Denmark’s Orsted Down Due to a Profit Warning

European stocks were largely unchanged on Wednesday as the utility sector was hit by a profit warning from Danish wind farm developer Orsted, while French grocery store Carrefour jumped after merger talks.

Carrefour gained 10.6% after Canadian store operator Element Couche-Tard said it had contacted Europe’s largest retailer to discuss a merger.

The stock topped the list of winners on the French CAC 40 index, which rose 0.2%, while French Casino Retail stocks jumped 6.4%.

Shares in Spanish telecom operator Telefónica were among the biggest gainers, rising more than 8% after it agreed to sell its cell phone towers in Europe and Latin America to US-based telecom infrastructure operator American Towers for 7.7 billion euros ($ 9.41 billion). ) cash Money.

But the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose only 0.1% as it came under pressure from the utilities sector after Orsted fell 7.5% on a warning that a return to normal wind speeds this year would negatively affect operating profits.

The performance of the German DAX index remained tepid, as German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that his country would not be able to lift the restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the Coronavirus at the beginning of next February.