5 days ago
European shares rise after four-day drop as ABB shines
July 17 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Thursday after four consecutive sessions of losses, supported by strong quarterly results from Switzerland's ABB and optimism over a potential trade deal between the United States and the European Union.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab up 0.8% as of 0718 GMT.
ABB (ABBN.S), opens new tab jumped 8.2% after the engineering firm posted record quarterly order intake, driven by strong U.S. demand and for products used in data centres to support artificial intelligence.
Shares of rivals Siemens ( opens new tab and Schneider Electric ( opens new tab added 3.6% and 5.8% respectively. The three firms were among the top boosts to the European benchmark index.
European chipmakers also recouped some losses from the previous session as TSMC ( opens new tab, the world's main producer of advanced AI chips, posted record profit in the second quarter. ASML ( opens new tab rose 1.7% following 11% drop on Wednesday.
In trade, EU's trade chief Maros Sefcovic headed to Washington on Wednesday for tariff talks, and is expected to meet U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, an EU spokesperson told Reuters.
Meanwhile, investors awaited for clarity on U.S.-EU trade talks as the bloc readied retaliatory measures if negotiations with Washington failed.
On Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump eased market anxiety after denying reports that said was planning to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell soon.
He confirmed he floated the idea with Republican lawmakers and renewed his criticism of the Fed chief for not cutting interest rates.
Among other stocks, Evolution ( opens new tab gained 6.5% after the Swedish gaming technology company reported its second-quarter results.
