European Equities Close Higher in Monday Trading; EC Probes TikTok Over Possible DSA Violations

The European stock markets closed higher in Monday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.60%, the Swiss Market Index gained 0.28%, France's CAC was up 0.22%, the FTSE in London climbed 1.62%, and Germany's DAX closed 0.70% higher.

The general government gross debt to GDP ratio in the euro area declined to 88.6% at the end of Q4 of 2023, compared with 89.6% at the end of the previous quarter, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the EU, the ratio decreased to 81.7% in Q4 from 82.4% in Q3. Compared with Q4 of 2022, the government debt to GDP ratio decreased to 88.6% from 90.8% in the euro area, and to 81.7% from 83.4% the EU.

The highest government debt to GDP ratios were in Greece (161.9%), Italy (137.3%), France (110.6%), Spain (107.7%) and Belgium (105.2%), while the lowest ratios were in Estonia (19.6%), Bulgaria (23.1%), Luxembourg (25.7%), and Denmark (29.3%).

And in corporate news, the European Commission said Monday that it has opened an investigation into TikTok to assess whether the company breached the Digital Services Act when it launched TikTok Lite in France and Spain. The Commission said it is concerned that the company launched its "Task and Reward Program" without taking "effective risk mitigating measures" or assessing the risks involved, particularly "the addictive effect of the platforms," the Commission said. The program allows users to earn points while performing certain "tasks" on TikTok, which include watching videos, liking content, following creators, and inviting friends to join the platform.

Germany's financial regulator BaFin said Monday that it has fined German bank Commerzbank 1.45 million euros ($1.54 million) for violating anti-money laundering obligations "by not updating customer data on time or sufficiently and by taking inadequate internal security measures."

French pharmaceutical company Sanofi said it will pay more than $100 million to settle approximately 4,000 lawsuits that accuse it of not warning users that its Zantac heartburn medicine could cause cancer, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the deal. Under the settlement, former Zantac users will get an average of at least $25,000 per claim, Bloomberg reported. The company announced the settlement earlier in April but did not disclose the financial terms at the time.

UK water and sewage utility Thames Water said Monday that it is updating its business plan to increase its total expenditure for the 2025-30 regulatory period by 1.1 billion pounds ($1.36 billion) to 19.8 billion pounds.

Healthcare stocks rallied in Monday trading on the European bourses as Bayer and Qiagen rose 4% and 2.5% respectively on the DAX, followed by Fresenius and Siemens Healthineers, which increased 2% and 1.5% respectively, while Merck closed 1.2% higher. Pharmaceutical giants rose Monday, with AstraZeneca up 2.8% and GSK 2.5% higher in London, while Sanofi gained 1.5% in Paris.