Europe midday: Stocks push higher as oil steadies

European stocks edged higher on Thursday as oil prices recovered and investors continued to sift through earnings.

At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.4%, Germany’s DAX was up 0.6% and France’s CAC 40 was 0.7% firmer.

Meanwhile, oil prices came off their lows, having fallen sharply after data from the US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed a build in crude inventories and following record Saudi Arabian production. West Texas Intermediate was down 0.3% to $41.57 a barrel and Brent crude was flat at $44.03.

Oanda’s Craig Erlam said: “At a time of relatively little news flow, traders are again focused on the movements in oil and whether we’re going to see another move back to the levels seen earlier this year.

“We saw a decent move lower on Wednesday on the back of the inventory numbers from EIA who reported a third consecutive increase for the first time since the start of May, when the rebalancing in the market was starting to show through. With US oil rigs coming back on line and output declines stabilising at a time when the International Energy Agency is downgrading demand growth forecasts for next year, it’s no surprise that traders are becoming increasingly bearish on oil once again.”

In corporate news, Zurich Insurance and Belgium’s KBC racked up strong gains after they posted better-than-expected second-quarter results.

Henkel pushed up after the German consumer products company said second-quarter profit increased 8%.

Thyssenkrupp was on the back foot after it reported a 34% drop in third-quarter profit, while German utility RWE also lost ground after it said earnings in the first half of the year tumbled.

Tui Group advanced after it said revenues shrank in the third quarter but the travel group was still confident of hitting its full year targets.

Soft drink bottler Coca-Cola HBC rallied after saying first-half net sales revenue grew 2.4%.

Legal & General edged down after agreeing the sale of its Cofunds investment platform to Aegon for £140m.

Miner and commodity trader Glencore nudged a touch lower after it reported a drop in production in the first half - with the exception of nickel and agricultural products - and lifted its full-year copper guidance.

Old Mutual was under pressure as its first-half results fell short of expectations.

Poundland was in the red after Steinhoff International improved the terms of its offer for the discount retailer, offering 227p in cash per share, made up of 225p and a 2p dividend.

There are no major eurozone data releases due but in the US, initial jobless claims are at 1330 BST.