European shares mark a fresh record close as earnings offset Mideast uncertainty

By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi, Ragini Mathur and ‌Avinash P

August 5 (Reuters) - European shares ​closed at ​a fresh all-time high on Wednesday as investors sifted through the latest batch of corporate earnings while watching the fast-moving developments in the Middle East conflict.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index ‌closed 0.04% higher at 657.14 points, after closing at an all-time peak in the ⁠previous session.

European shares have touched record highs in three of the past four straight sessions as upbeat corporate earnings outweighed concerns over ‌the Middle East conflict.

Most major regional ‌benchmarks were mostly muted to lower, while Spain's IBEX' bucked the trend, up 0.2%.

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.

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."

Glencore rose 4.1% ​after beating forecasts with an 86% jump in first-half earnings.

Siemens Energy was little changed despite the energy provider posting record third-quarter results.

Heineken rose 2.2% after the Dutch ​brewing giant beat first-half profit forecasts after cutting about 3,000 ‌jobs.

Mining stocks led sectoral gains, rising 2.3% as gold prices climbed to a one-month high on a weaker dollar. [GOL/]

Insurer Prudential fell 6.4% after reports said Chinese mainland tax authorities ⁠have started levying personal income tax on returns from offshore insurance policies. The weakness also affected Asia focused European banks with HSBC declining 4.7%.

Novo Nordisk slid 4.3% 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 path to uninterrupted ​global Wegovy pill supply was not clearly defined. With launches broadening beyond the US and demand building rapidly, manufacturing readiness will be important to sustaining momentum without constraining access or creating uneven market availability," analysts at Citi Research said.

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.

Conversely, Sandoz rose 6%, 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, Ragini Mathur and Avinash P in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Janane Venkataraman, Sonia Cheema and ‌Joyjeet Das)

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