Europe midday: Stocks make gains in thin volumes

European stocks edged higher amid lower volumes as the August lull kicked in, with investors sifting through earnings reports.

At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.3%, Germany’s DAX was 0.6% higher and France’s CAC 40 was 0.5% firmer.

At the same time, oil prices reversed earlier losses to trade higher, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.4% at $43.21 a barrel and Brent crude up 0.3% at $45.51.

Markus Huber, a trader at City of London Markets, said: “Overall sentiment remains positive, whilst a lack of trading volume might limit the extent to which stocks can rise today, traders in general expect mostly range-trading with a slight bias to the upside.”

On the corporate front, telecoms company Altice surged after posting a jump in second-quarter core earnings, while Standard Life gained ground after saying operating profit before tax rose 18% in the first half thanks to diversification, as its assets under management grew.

Reinsurer Munich Re was also on the front foot after its second-quarter profit exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Morrisons pushed higher after the supermarket agreed a new deal with Ocado, ending their profit-sharing agreement but with the grocer taking roughly 30% capacity of the online specialist's new Customer Fulfilment Centre ("CFC") in Erith and increasing its Morrisons.com non-food range.

Payments processor Worldpay rallied after it reported a rise in underlying earnings and pre-tax profit amid strength in all its businesses and declared a maiden interim dividend of 0.65p per share, while Spirax-Sarco advanced after posting a jump in interim pre-tax profit.

On the downside, Pandora slid after the jewellery maker’s second-quarter sales missed analysts’ expectations.

Legal & General was under pressure despite posting an increase in first-half headline adjusted operating profit.

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca nudged lower after it said a phase III trial of inhibitor selumetinib in combination with docetaxal chemotherapy to treat lung cancer failed to meet its main endpoint.