The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 0.17% at 551.07

European shares closed marginally higher on Monday, supported by defence stocks, while Novo Nordisk advanced after data showed its weight-loss drug Wegovy delivers stronger heart-protective benefits than Eli Lilly’s rival therapies.

The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 0.17% at 551.07, with gains led by the aerospace and defence index, which soared 2.1% to hover near a record high.

Defence giants, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rheinmetall and Hensoldt gained between 2.8% and 4.5%.

Gains followed a Financial Times report that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe was preparing “pretty precise plans” to send troops to Ukraine as part of post-conflict security guarantees.

The possibility of additional support for Ukraine can only be beneficial as far as European stocks are concerned and investors are really buying into that, said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, the fourth-largest healthcare company on the STOXX index, added 1.8% after the company said Wegovy cut the risk of heart attack, stroke or death by 57% versus Eli Lilly’s rival medicines Mounjaro and Zepbound in a real-world comparison.

The stock bolstered the healthcare index, rising 0.27%. Denmark’s main stock index advanced 1.1%, also aided by Novo’s domestic peer Zealand Pharma that closed 3.5% higher.

Overall gains were limited by a jump in long-dated euro zone bond yields on persistent worries about government debt levels around the world.

Germany’s 30-year yield added as much as to a 14-year high of 3.381% before dropping to 3.36%, up 2 basis points.

Utilities, often traded as a bond proxy, declined 0.9% to lead sectoral losses on STOXX 600.