European equities traded in the US as American depositary receipts were tracking slightly lower late Thursday morning, declining 0.04% to 1,402.70 on the S&P Europe Select ADR Index.

From continental Europe, the gainers were led by pharmaceutical company Ascendis Pharma (ASND) and biotech company BioNTech (BNTX), which climbed 14.9% and 6.3% respectively. They were followed by biopharmaceutical company Grifols (GRFS) and biotech company and Evaxion Biotech (EVAX), which rose 5.6% and 1.5% respectively.

The decliners from continental Europe were led by consumer goods company Unilever (UL) and pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk (NVO), which fell 5% and 3% respectively. They were followed by telecommunications company Nokia (NOK) and financial services company Banco Santander (SAN), which were off 0.5% each.

From the UK and Ireland, the gainers were led by biopharmaceutical company Amarin (AMRN) and pharmaceutical company Silence Therapeutics (SLN), which increased 6.7% and 3.3% respectively. They were followed by alcoholic beverage company Diageo (DEO) and biopharmaceutical company NuCana (NCNA), which were up 2.6% and 2.3% respectively.

The decliners from the UK and Ireland were led by biopharmaceutical company TC Biopharm (TCBP) and tobacco company British American Tobacco (BTI), which shed 16.3% and 9.1% respectively. They were followed by biopharmaceutical company Biodexa Pharmaceuticals (BDRX) and financial services company Barclays (BCS), which were down 6.7% and 4.8% respectively.