Denmark’s benchmark stock index has fallen 21% from its September high, making it the first major European index to enter a bear market as tariff-related risks and a slump for Novo Nordisk A/S weigh.
The OMXC25 Index closed down 2.4% on Thursday, sliding alongside other major European benchmarks, after US President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs. Shares in logistics company DSV A/S and jewelry maker Pandora A/S were the biggest drags on the benchmark.
A 25% slide for index heavyweight Novo Nordisk A/S this year has also pressured the gauge, with the drugmaker hurt by disappointing prescriptions data for its obesity medicines as well as drug trial setbacks.
“Denmark is a small open economy. When globalization is good, it is good for Denmark — and vice versa,” said Per Hansen, investment economist at Nordnet AB, noting that nearly a fifth of exports are to the US. Novo’s drop is also important, especially as Danish stocks had become “richly valued,” he added.
Novo shares just closed out their worst month in more than two decades. Along with poor prescriptions trends in the US, the drugmaker reported disappointing data from a trial for its weight-loss pill monlunabant last year, followed by results for a separate experimental shot called CagriSema that missed its own expectations.
Other major drags on the index this year include wind-power and renewables firms Vestas Wind Systems A/S and Orsted AS.
“OMXC25 is dominated by life science along with green transition. For these sectors there have been bumps along the road,” Nordnet’s Hansen added.
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