Europe sees an encouraging start to the week on the stock markets

The European securities markets continued their positive trend at the start of the week, buoyed by momentum from across the Atlantic. The Nasdaq 100, dominated by technology stocks and inspired by the futuristic topic of Artificial Intelligence, reached a new milestone, breaking the 18,000-point threshold for the first time. A similar tailwind was felt in the EuroStoxx 50, which climbed 0.65 percent to 4746.35 points by the end of the trading day in Europe. With this, the Eurozone's leading index marked the fifth consecutive day of reaching an all-time high since the turn of the millennium. In France, the CAC 40 saw a gain of 0.55 percent to 7689.80 points, while the London FTSE 100 closed the trading day with marginal fluctuations at 7573.69 points. In the Danish capital, Copenhagen, shares of Novo Nordisk scaled new heights before slipping slightly into the red. The pharmaceutical giant, specializing in the treatment of diabetes and hemophilia, is valued at an impressive market capitalization of around 500 billion euros. The stock price has been buoyed for some time by interest in weight-loss medications. The 'Financial Times' reported plans by the major shareholder Novo Holdings to invest up to five billion US dollars annually in expansion over the next five years. Shares of the wind energy company Vestas also demonstrated strength with a gain of over one percent. Positive news from competitor Nordex, which unexpectedly presented positive business figures, also had a favorable impact on Vestas. In the Paris stock index, L'Oreal topped the EuroStoxx 50 with a recovery of 2.4 percent and was also prominently represented in the CAC 40. This followed after the cosmetics company's share price suffered a slump on Friday due to an unsatisfactory quarterly report.