AEX price drops below 1,000 points: publishers plummet, Pharming rises

The AEX index fell by more than 0.8 percent on Tuesday afternoon to just under 1,000 points. Publishers Wolters Kluwer and RELX in particular are putting pressure on the index, after concerns about AI put pressure on their revenue models. There are also positive highlights: Pharming is climbing after strong turnover expectations and ING is benefiting from a buy recommendation.

Publishers under pressure due to AI concerns

The AEX opened higher thanks to ING and chip shares, but later slumped due to heavy losses at RELX and Wolters Kluwer. Both stocks lost up to 9 percent after Barclays lowered their price targets. At the same time, investors are concerned about the impact of new AI tools from Anthropic, which can automate legal work.

RELX and Wolters Kluwer are heavily weighted shares within the index and their plunge drags the AEX down. Analysts point out that the rise of specialized AI poses a structural threat to publishers of legal and academic data.

Pharming and ING provide a counterbalance

In contrast to the decliners, there is a striking increase: Pharming gains more than 6 percent after the investor day. The company expects sales of between $405 and $425 million by 2026 and reports strong growth expectations for the rare disease drug Ruconest. The pipeline of new medicines also generated optimism among investors.

ING rose 2.5 percent after a buy recommendation from Deutsche Bank. Other financial values ​​such as ABN Amro and ASR are also rising.

Europe and the US more positive

A more positive sentiment prevails in the rest of Europe. The EuroStoxx 50 breaks a new record and London’s FTSE 100 gets tailwinds from mining stocks benefiting from rising commodity prices.

The American futures are also in the green. Investors are looking forward to AMD and Palantir’s quarterly results as the gold price rebounds towards $4,900 an ounce after a historic fall earlier this week. The macroeconomic figures in the US do not give much cause for concern for the time being.