European shares gain as tech stocks rebound; Middle East in focus

European shares rose in choppy trading on Thursday, led by a rebound in technology stocks, while investors mulled the outlook for the conflict in the Middle East after US President Donald Trump said that Iran wanted to “make a deal”.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.5% at 639.12 points by 0816 GMT, with the technology sector and basic resources among the top sectoral gainers, up 1.8% and 2.8%, respectively.

Chip stocks such as Siltronic jumped 10.5%, while Soitec added 4.5% and ASML rose 2.6%.

The group had taken a breather after logging its strongest quarterly performance since 2001 in June, and Thursday’s gains signalled investor concerns about elevated valuations are likely to take a back seat temporarily.

The sector is the worst performer on the benchmark index so far this month.

Global sentiment was also buoyed by a report that China could allow domestic AI firms limited access to AI leader Nvidia’s H200 chips, suggesting demand for AI infrastructure could get a further boost.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices, a key resource for energy-deficient Europe, were marginally lower as investors weighed Trump’s latest comments on the war.

The US had launched fresh strikes on Iran after Trump said the deal with Tehran was over on Wednesday, and worries about repercussions on the economy dragged the STOXX to log its biggest one-day drop since March.

“Positive developments around the AI trade are supporting sentiment, but it’s not simply a case of AI outweighing concerns over US-Iran tensions.

Investors have also become a little more immune to developments in that story, viewing them as part of what has always been a choppy path towards a broader agreement,“ said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.

Spanish stocks outperformed the region, up 1.1%, rebounding from Wednesday’s three-week low after Trump said Spain was “very generous” following his order to halt trade with the country over its NATO contribution.

Meanwhile, healthcare was the worst performing sector, down 1.5%, led by a 9.1% drop in AstraZeneca after the drugmaker’s nerve disease drug Wainua, made in partnership with US-based Ionis, failed to meet the main goal of reducing cardiovascular deaths and recurring heart problems in a late-stage trial.

Among others, IT services provider Computacenter jumped 11.1% after saying it expects full-year results to exceed market expectations, helped by strong demand for AI-related infrastructure.

Onshore wind turbine manufacturer Nordex added 5% after saying its project orders in the second quarter rose year-on-year to 3,054 MW megawatts, boosted by significant orders from the US.