Investing.com -- Shares in Nestle (SIX:NESN) edged down on Friday, approaching a more than two-year low, as investors reportedly fretted over how the food and drink giant could be impacted by a new weight-loss drug Wegovy made by Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO).
At 08:12 ET (12:12 GMT), Switzerland-listed shares in the company had fallen by 2.76% to CHF 100.06 (CHF 1 = $1.10). Peers of the maker of Nescafe coffee and KitKat chocolate wafer bars, including Unilever PLC (LON:ULVR) and Danone (EPA:DANO), also slipped, dragging down the pan-European food, beverage and tobacco index.
An analyst quoted by Reuters suggested that the decline could be linked to comments from a top Walmart (NYSE:WMT) executive flagging that increased customer use of Wegovy could cause a dip in food consumption.
However, analysts said that the long-term risks to the food industry were not substantial.
Nestle declined to provide a comment to Reuters.