European stocks hovered near record levels on Thursday as strong earnings from Novo Nordisk and Siemens helped counter weakness in miners and banking shares that weighed on UK’s blue-chip index.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index inched up 0.1% after a three-day run of gains that took it to fresh highs.
Danish company Novo Nordisk rose 3.1% after it raised its full-year forecast and posted above-forecast quarterly earnings on strong sales and demand for its new obesity drug.
German industrial firm Siemens climbed 3.9% as it lifted its profit guidance for the third time this year.
Retailers took a hit as German online fashion company Zalando slid 7.2% after it said it had spent more on marketing to keep its customers shopping.
Adidas also fell 3.6% after it raised its outlook for full-year sales and profitability but took a hit in China.
The FTSE MIB climbed up by 0.05% to 25,502.82. In the cash markets, the DAX Germany was trading up 0.02% to 15,695.17. CAC 40 in France rose by 0.24% to 6,762.60 while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. were down by 0.12% to 7,115.35. ,at the time of writing.
