Europe open: Stocks edge higher as investors sift through earnings

European stocks were a little firmer in early trade as investors sifted through more earnings releases.

At 0910 BST, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.2%, Germany’s DAX was 0.4% higher and France’s CAC 40 was up 0.5%.

At the same time, oil prices were in the red, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.9% at $42.65 a barrel and Brent crude 0.8% lower at $45.00.

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 announced results from the Phase III SELECT-1 trial of the MEK 1/2 inhibitor, selumetinib on Tuesday, in combination with docetaxel chemotherapy, as second-line treatment in patients with KRAS mutation-positive locally-advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The FTSE 100 firm said the results showed that the trial did not meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival, and selumetinib did not have a significant effect on overall survival.

There are no major eurozone data releases due, but in the UK all eyes will be on industrial production, manufacturing production and trade balance figures at 0930 BST.