European shares inch higher as financials rise

European shares edged higher on Wednesday, boosted by financial stocks, as investors parsed through a mixed bag of earnings reports and awaited new developments on trade talks between the United States and China.

Societe Generale shares rose 3.5% after the bank said it had set aside three-quarters of the cash needed to deliver a planned dividend payout this year. The French bank helped power a 1% rise in bank stocks, and the pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.06% by 0826 GMT.

Supermarket operator Ahold Delhaize rose 2.2% after the Dutch company posted quarterly core earnings ahead of analysts' forecasts. European shares were close to all-time highs, ending Tuesday at a more than four-year peak as investors grew more optimistic about a trade truce between the United States and China.

The lack of fresh trade developments helped shift focus back to the third-quarter earnings season which has been modestly better-than-expected so far.

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