Europe midday: Shares still upbeat on earnings news ahead of US data
European stocks continued to push into record territory at midday on Friday after a strong week of corporate earnings, shrugging off worries about Covid cases forcing the partial closure of a major Chinese container terminal.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.2% to hit a record high for the tenth successive session.
Asian shares were lower on news that congestion off China's top two container ports Shanghai and Ningbo was worsening following the shutdown of a container terminal in Ningbo where a Covid-19 case was detected this week.
A similar decision taken in May, at the Yantian port in Shenzhen, had led to shipping delays around the globe.
Still on the economic calendar for later in the session was a preliminary reading on the University of Michigan's US consumer confidence index for July. Consensus is for an unchanged reading of 81.2.
Also due out in the US are July import price figures.
In equity news, shares in sportswear giant Adidas rose after it said it was selling Reebok to Authentic Brands Group for up to €2.1bn.
Pet supplies retailer Zooplus surged after it accepted a takeover offer worth around €3bn from US private equity firm Hellman & Friedman.
French healthcare company Ipsen slumped 12% to the bottom of the Stoxx after it withdrew a US new drug application for palovarotene, its treatment for an extremely rare disease that causes muscles and tissue to turn to bone.