European stocks edged higher Wednesday, with investors continuing to assess the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as well as more corporate earnings.
At 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT), the DAX index in Germany climbed 0.6%, the CAC 40 in France gained 0.5% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. rose 0.1%.
Subscribe to InvestingPro for more stock market analysis Middle East conflict continues U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran have continued overnight, with U.S. Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. forces in the Middle East, stating that Iran’s air defences had been badly degraded, its navy had no operational vessels on key waterways after 17 were sunk, and that more than 2,000 Iranian targets had been hit.
Additionally, Israel continued to target the pro-Iran Hezbollah group in neighbouring Lebanon, after the militants fired on Israel in retaliation for the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening salvos on Saturday.
Iran has fired missiles and drones at neighbouring Arab states that host U.S. bases, broadening the conflict around the region.
“Energy prices have soared over the last couple of days, especially European gas, and this is preventing bonds/yields from acting as circuit breakers,” said analysts at Vital Knowledge. “If energy holds at present levels, it will create a major headwind for consumers globally.”
“Looking beyond the immediate term, lurking in the background is the potential for the Iran campaign to yield a medium and long-term positive outcome for equities by finally ending a war” that began back in 2023.
Bayer profit guidance disappoints Away from geopolitical concerns, the quarterly earnings season remained in focus, with a number of senior European companies reporting Wednesday.
Bayer (ETR:BAYGN) issued a 2026 earnings target range below market expectations, as the German drugmaker struggles to cope with costly litigation and massive financial debt.
German car parts supplier Continental (ETR:CONG) guided for broadly stable 2026 sales and profitability in its core tyres business in a persistently volatile demand environment.
German sportswear maker Adidas (ETR:ADSGN) said it expected its operating profit to increase to around €2.3 billion this year, despite around €400 million negative impact from U.S. tariffs and unfavorable currency developments.
SCOR (EPA:SCOR) reported fourth quarter net income ahead of expectations, as the French reinsurer delivered strong underwriting performance across both property and casualty and life and health divisions.
Metro Bank (LON:MTRO) reported underlying profit before tax of £98 million for full-year 2025, the highest in the company’s 15-year history, while beating its cost reduction guidance.
Traton (ETR:8TRA) proposed a dividend for fiscal 2025 of nearly half paid a year earlier, after the Volkswagen-owned truckmaker reported a sharp drop in earnings driven by a near-collapse in its North American operations and U.S. tariff costs.
Eurozone unemployment data due The economic data slate includes the European services PMI data for February as well as the latest unemployment figure for the region.
These figures are unlikely to affect the thinking of European Central Bank policymakers, particularly after data released on Tuesday showed that Eurozone inflation surged unexpectedly last month.
