European shares inch up ahead of ECB as earnings remain in focus

European shares inched up on Thursday ahead of the ‌European Central Bank's policy meeting, while investors assessed a fresh batch of upbeat earnings reports.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up ‌0.11% at 644.80 points by 0806 GMT. The ECB is widely ‌expected to keep interest rates steady at 2.5% but the spotlight will be on President Christine Lagarde's comments on the French bond crisis and Lagarde's ⁠own ​future.

Corporate results, ⁠which have been the major driver of market sentiment recently, also remained in ⁠focus. Shell announced above-expectation net profit of $10.81 billion in the third ​quarter, its highest since 2022, and boosted its buybacks, sending the ⁠shares of the oil major 2.6% higher.

The energy sector climbed 1%, while ⁠London's ​FTSE 100 rose 0.3%. Airbus shares added 3.2% after maintaining full-year forecasts and production plans and reporting mixed third-quarter earnings.

The technology sector ⁠dropped 0.7%, mirroring global weakness after investors digested earnings from Alphabet , ⁠whose shares ⁠slumped 10.8% in US premarket trading following a revenue miss and increasing cash burn to fund ‌AI infrastructure.