By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Ragini Mathur
August 5 (Reuters) – European shares were muted on Wednesday as investors assessed a fresh batch of corporate earnings while keeping an eye on fast-moving developments in the Middle East.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.07% at 657.27 by 0857 GMT, briefly hitting an intraday record high after closing at an all-time peak in the previous session.
Most major regional benchmarks were also little changed.
Markets were weighing mixed signals from the Middle East after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group launched a missile attack on a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea. Brent crude futures rose 1.2% after the incident and were last trading at $80.39.
The development came after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his administration had held “very good discussions” with Iran during day-long negotiations.
“By and large, they (markets) are just discounting political narratives, geopolitical narratives,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
“Corporate fundamentals are the key theme that is driving stocks right now.”
Energy stocks rose 0.6%, tracking higher oil prices.
Siemens Energy was up 1.3% after the energy provider posted record third-quarter results, buoyed by rising AI data centre demand and power plant projects in the Middle East.
Mining stocks led sectoral gains, rising 1.4% as gold prices climbed to a one-month high on a weaker dollar. [GOL/]
Glencore rose 3.3% after beating forecasts with an 86% jump in first-half earnings.
Banks, however, fell 0.9%, with HSBC down 3.5% following its results a day earlier.
Novo Nordisk slid 3.8% despite lifting its full-year sales and profit outlook. Investors instead focused on a narrow sales miss for its new Wegovy pill and a trial setback for its next-generation obesity drug, CagriSema.
The Danish drugmaker is seeking to regain ground from Eli Lilly in the fast-growing obesity-drug market. Once Europe’s most valuable listed company in 2024, Novo has lost a substantial share of its market value as expectations for obesity-drug growth have cooled and competition has intensified.
In contrast, Sandoz rose 7.4%, topping the benchmark index after the Swiss generic drugmaker reported a 9% jump in second-quarter net sales, driven by strong growth in biosimilars as patents expire for popular medicines.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Ragini Mathur in Bengalurui; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Janane Venkataraman and Sonia Cheema)
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