FILE PHOTO: The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, August 25, 2025. REUTERS/staff/File Photo

By Tristan Veyet and Johann M Cherian

(Reuters) - European shares climbed on Wednesday after Spanish fast-fashion giant Inditex said sales were picking up and Wegovy-maker Novo Nordisk said its plans to cut jobs and make other changes will save the firm around $1.26 billion annually.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.5% at 555.55 points as of 0822 GMT, hovering near a two-week high.

Retailers led sectoral gains with a 2.6% jump, as Inditex climbed 7% after the company said sales had picked up between August 1 and September 8 after months of poor demand.

Shares of Novo Nordisk rose nearly 2.6% after the Danish company said it could cut about 11.5% of its workforce as the company struggles to remain competitive in the weight-loss drug market.

The broader healthcare sector edged up 0.5%, but has lost over 3% this year.

"You have fundamental problems within the sector, and that's what Novo Nordisk is trying to address with falling margins and then, of course, we have the tariffs and stronger currencies," said Marija Veitmane, head of equity research at State Street Markets.

Meanwhile, France's CAC 40 rose 0.8% to a two-week high after president Emmanuel Macron appointed loyalist and former defense minister Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister on Tuesday, the fifth one in less than two years.

Recent governments in the country have struggled to unify over plans to reign in debt-fuelled fiscal spending and investors are bracing for ratings agency Fitch's verdict on the country's credit condition on Friday.

It was also an upbeat day for European tech stocks, with German software maker SAP up 2.4% and Dutch company ASML climbing 1% after Oracle projected over half a trillion dollars in booked cloud orders. The U.S. company soared 28% in premarket trading.

Uncertainty prevailed after Poland shot down drones that entered its airspace during a widespread Russian attack in western Ukraine.

Polish stocks dropped 1.2%, while European defence stocks rose 1.3%.

Among others, Alstom gained 7.1% after the French train maker struck a $1.17 billion deal with NJ Transit in the U.S., while Puig shed 6.1% after the Spanish beauty company reported results for the first half of the year.

The European central bank's monetary policy verdict is due on Thursday, with economists anticipating no change. But, the bigger focus will instead be on the release of U.S. inflation data.

($1 = 6.3725 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk, Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)