European shares hold ground as AstraZeneca drags, tech shares rise By Reuters

(Reuters) – European shares were flat on Tuesday, after a 1% jump in the previous session, as investors parsed through a mixed set of economic data while awaiting a widely expected ECB rate cut later in the week.

The pan-European index was holding its ground at 510.40 points at 0715 GMT.

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:) was the biggest drag, sliding 5% after detailed study results showed its experimental lung cancer drug did not significantly improve patients’ overall survival results.

The healthcare sector also lost 1%.

ticked 0.1% lower after data showed the country’s inflation slowed to 2% in August.

Elsewhere, British labour data showed average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, were 5.1% higher than a year earlier in the three months to the end of July.

It’s benchmark was down 0.2%.

The STOXX was supported by gains in technology companies. Capgemini and SAP SE (ETR:) gained 4.1% and 0.8%, respectively, after Oracle (NYSE:)’s upbeat results.

Hearing aid maker Amplifon dropped 5% after Apple (NASDAQ:) said its new Airpods can work as hearing aids.