LONDON (Reuters) - Global markets reacted nervously on Wednesday to Donald Trump's surprise victory in the U.S. presidential election, but construction, pharma and gold mining stocks emerged as big winners in the European trading session.
Gains in those three sectors helped pull European stocks (STOXX) off their early lows that had followed a slump in Wall Street futures. The European index had been expected to open as much as 4 percent lower on the election outcome but in the end was only down about two percent at the outset.
At 1323 GMT the index was down 0.4 percent.
Healthcare stocks (SXDP) were the biggest outperformers, up 2.8 percent, followed by basic resources (SXPP), up 2.4 percent, and construction and materials (SXOP), up 1.2 percent.
The STOXX 600 was down 0.6 percent by midday trading.
Markets had expected Democrat contender Hillary Clinton to win the election rather than Trump, a political outsider with no experience of public office. Growth-sensitive shares such as autos, financial and travel shares all came under pressure from the uncertainty over what a Trump presidency will look like.
Stocks with substantial revenue exposure to the Mexican peso, and some with U.S. exposure, were also hit as both currencies have come under pressure.
However, stocks of companies with American exposure that stand to benefit from Trump's spending plans are seeing a lift. And those that have costs in pesos, rather than derive revenues from Mexico, are also "winners" from the election result.
TRUMP WINNERS
* FRESNILLO (L:FRES) - Gold miners are safe-haven plays which benefit in times of uncertainty. Fresnillo is in addition a Mexico-based, London-listed, dollar-earning company. As such the 13 percent slide in the peso provided another lift to Fresnillo. Its shares were up 9 percent on Wednesday, the top STOXX 600 gainer.
* BAE SYSTEMS (L:BAES) - Trump's non-committal stance on supporting NATO allies might prompt increased defence spending in Europe. Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) picked out BAE Systems as a stock that could benefit, and say that the sector is at a 5 percent discount to the European market and a 20 percent discount to the U.S. defence sector. The stock rose over 3 percent to an all-time high.
* HIKMA (L:HIK), BB BIOTECH (S:BION) - Pharmaceuticals had been inversely correlated with the chances of a Clinton presidency, as she has proposed higher regulation of pricing in the sector. Hikma and BB Biotech were both up over 7 percent after Trump won. Barclays (LON:BARC) had picked out Hikma as a beneficiary if Trump won ahead of the election, deriving around half of its revenues from the United States. Shire (L:SHP) and Novo Nordisk (CO:NOVOb) also rallied strongly.
* CRH (I:CRH) - The construction firm hit a nine-year high on Wednesday as Trump has pledged to boost infrastructure spending. Trump's acceptance speech, which struck a conciliatory note and avoided reference to controversial policies mentioned on the campaign trail, reiterated his commitment to increased infrastructure spending. CRH derives 50 percent of its revenues from the United States.
* ASHTEAD (L:AHT) - Ashtead is identified by Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) as the European firm with the highest exposure to increased infrastructure spending in the United States, with 84 percent of its revenues derived there.
TRUMP LOSERS
* BBVA (MC:BBVA) - BBVA is identified by Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) and Societe Generale as the European bank most exposed to Mexico, from where it derives around 30 percent of its revenues. The stock would suffer if Trump got into power and scrapped the North American Free Trade Agreement, as he has pledged to do. BBVA was down 8.8 percent, its biggest one-day fall since the Brexit vote.
* TATE AND LYLE (L:TATE) - Tate & Lyle fell 9 percent, and has 10 percent exposure to the peso. BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) downgraded the stock to "underperform" on Wednesday, saying that its Mexican exposure would weigh on sentiment and profits.
* VESTAS WIND (CO:VWS) - Renewable energy firms took a pounding on concern that President-Elect Trump will cut support to the sector as he looks to promote coal and other fossil fuels. Vestas derives 40 percent of its revenue from the United States, per Barclays, and was down 7.2 percent.
* NESTE (HE:NESTE) - Concerns over Trump's approach to the energy sector also hit Neste. The Finnish renewable diesel maker fell 6.2 percent as the dollar weakened, with concern mounting that Trump would tweak a tax break for biofuels.
* HEINEKEN (AS:HEIN), AB INBEV (BR:ABI) - Brewers Heineken and AB InBev have substantial exposure to emerging markets like Mexico. Even though food and beverage stocks are seen broadly as defensive, these two stocks were down over 4 percent.