Europe midday: Shares extend gains ahead of Nvidia results

European markets extended morning gains on Wednesday as the financial world held its breath ahead of earnings from US chip maker Nvidia.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.47% at 521.34. The Dow Jones staggered to a fresh record high overnight on the back of rising expectations that the Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy at its next meeting in September.

These projections were cemented on Friday by comments from Fed chair Jerome Powell, who indicated that the "time has come" to cut interest rates.

“Investors are to some extent in wait-and-see mood ahead of the hotly anticipated results from tech superstar Nvidia, due out later,” said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.

“The chip giant is again expected to demonstrate that it’s firing on all cylinders, with another round of blockbuster numbers expected, fuelled by accelerating demand for its AI focused computing platforms. But a lot will also be riding on the outlook and guidance from the firm, with some uncertainty swirling about just how long it will be before rapacious appetite for its products is sated.”

In equity news, shares in SBB fell despite the Swedish real estate group narrowing pre-tax losses in the second quarter as it continued to wrestle with a debt mountain and looks to restructure its business.

Medical tech firm Elekta rose as first-quarter profits and sales beat expectations.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com