European Stocks Inch Higher on Tuesday

European stocks closed marginally higher on Tuesday as support from the pharmaceutical sector offset weakness for consumer staples and discretionary.

The Eurozone's STOXX 50 inched higher to 5,748 and the broader STOXX 600, which includes heavyweight pharmaceutical companies in Denmark, Switzerland, and the UK, jumped a sharper 0.4%.

Novo Nordisk surged close to 10% after the company received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market an oral version of its obesity treatment, Wegovy, in the US. Other major drugmakers also posted gains, with Bayer, Novartis, and Roche advancing over 1%.

Conversely, Hermes and Kering fell 1.2% and 2%, respectively.

Meanwhile, banks were mostly higher to benefit from a strong session for bonds in the Eurozone, which outperformed US Treasuries after a strong GDP print in the US.