(Reuters) -European shares edged higher on Thursday, helped by a slate of upbeat corporate updates, with investors keeping an eye on last minute trade deals after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a blitz of tariff announcements.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.3% by 0715 GMT. It is on track to end the month 1.6% higher as easing trade worries, better-than-expected U.S. and European economic data and largely upbeat earnings reports bolstered sentiment.
Ahead of the August 1 deadline, Trump
released fresh levies ranging from updates on copper tariffs, goods from Brazil, South Korea and India as well as an end to exemptions for small-value overseas shipments.
Euro zone banks continued their upward momentum, adding 1%, boosted by Societe Generale raising its annual profit target on Thursday. The French bank was among top gainers on the index, advancing 7%.
Standard Chartered reported a higher-than-expected rise in first-half pretax profit, while Spanish bank BBVA reported a fall in second-quarter net profit.
Energy giant Shell gained 2.9% after the company beat profit expectations for the quarter and kept buybacks steady. Rival BP rose marginally.
Anheuser-Busch InBev shed 10.2% after the beer giant reported a fall in volumes, dragged back by weak sales in China and Brazil.
Blowout results from Microsoft and Meta Platforms overnight are set to power Wall Street on Thursday, ahead of reports from Apple and Amazon.com.
(Reporting by Twesha Dikshit and Medha Singh; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
