Markets Are Drifting Higher
Britain's FTSE is up 0.8%.
France's CAC 40 is up 0.6%.
Germany's DAX is up 1.0%.
Spain's IBEX is up 0.3%.
Earlier today, Swiss drugmaker Novartis announced three huge deals: 1) it's acquiring GlaxoSmithKline's oncology business for $14.5 billion; 2) it's divesting its vaccines business to GSK for $7.1 billion plus royalties; and 3) it's divesting its animal health business to Eli Lilly for $5.4 billion.
In other big pharma news, hedge fund Pershing Square Capital disclosed that it owned about 10% of the $40 billion botox-maker Allergan. The Wall Street Journal reports that Ackman and Valeant Pharmaceuticals are orchestrating a takeover of the drug company.
All of this comes a day after a modest rally in U.S. markets where the Dow and S&P 500 are both on five-day winning streaks.