Health care rally buoys European stock markets

Health care rally buoys European stock markets

Dutch health technology company Philips rose 6.1 percent after saying sales and profit margins could still rise in 2020 if the pandemic eases in coming months.. "Locally farmed produce are now in more demand, whereas food imports are negatively impacted with closure of borders and airports," said Omar Al-Jundi, CEO of Dubai-based vertical farming business Badia Farms.. But the Gulf region's petrodollars put it in a position to take risks with new technologies that are capable of commercializing crops using significantly less water in harsh environments.. The UAE capital Abu Dhabi in 2019 approved a series of incentive packages worth AED1 billion ($272 million) to support agricultural technology projects.. In April, Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) said it was investing $100 million of that sum in four companies that would build facilities in the emirate, including US-based AeroFarms.. AeroFarms is setting up an 8,200 square meter research and development center in Abu Dhabi, the largest indoor vertical farm of its kind, to help bring fresh fruit and vegetables grown in vertical farms to local markets at an affordable price.. Indoor vertical farming, a controlled-environment form of agriculture in which crops are vertically stacked in layers, has been shown by AeroFarms