Europe midday: Shares pace gains despite miners slump; TGH surges

European shares paced gains on Thursday as investors digested mixed earnings and trading updates.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.46% with Britain’s commodity-heavy FTSE 100 down as Anglo American reported a 10% year-on-year fall in first quarter production and lowered its full-year forecast.

Shares in the mining giant slumped 9% on the news. Sector peer BHP, which also reported lower production on Thursday, fell, as did Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Glencore.

In other equity news, shares in online cosmetics seller THG soared 18% as the company said it had rejected a number of takeover approaches and reported a rise in annual core earnings and revenue.

Nestle shares gained as the food group confirmed annual targets after price rises helped quarterly organic sales rise more than expected.

Engineering and technology firm ABB climbed after posting a sharp rise in orders during the first quarter.

Shares in Rexel, a French distributor of electrical supplies, surged after the company said first-quarter sales rose 31.4%.