European shares set for best week since June as earnings, tech stability lift mood

By Avinash P

Oct 16 (Reuters) - European shares were on track for their biggest weekly gain since late June on Friday, as strong earnings reports and signs of stability in battered global technology stocks bolstered investor sentiment.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.56% to 643.64 points by 0922 GMT, touching a more than three-week high. The benchmark was up more than 1.8% for the week.

Robust earnings from European firms helped steady markets at the end of a volatile week marked by a selloff in high-flying tech names on concerns over Chinese competition and increased debt funding to develop AI infrastructure.

"A very good positive earnings season is really going to boost investor sentiment. It could move markets back up to some of the highs that we've seen recently," said Michael Field, chief equity strategist at Morningstar.

Earnings for STOXX 600 companies are expected to rise 20.7% in the third-quarter from a year earlier, slightly down from the 21% growth forecast last week, data from LSEG I/B/E/S showed.

SAP SAPG.DE, ABB ABBN.S and Barclays BARC.L are some of the firms due to report results next week.

Chipmaker Aixtron AIXGn.DE advanced 5% after beating order intake estimates for the third quarter and confirming annual guidance.

Nordex NDXG.DE soared 12.7% after the onshore wind turbine maker posted a better-than-expected third-quarter core profit and lifted its full-year margin forecast.

Schneider Electric SCHN.PA shares reversed earlier gains, and were last down 1.3% after the industrial group raised its 2026 core profit and revenue targets for the second time.

The tech sector .SX8P gained 1%, on course to recover most of the Thursday's losses, while the healthcare sector .SXDP eased 0.6% after gaining more than 4.6% over the previous two sessions.

Among other movers, Nestle NESN.S gained 1% after JPMorgan upgraded the Swiss food and drinks group to "overweight" rating.

The gains propped up the food and beverage index .SX3P, which rose 0.6%, putting it on track to be the best-performing sector on the STOXX 600 this week.

The eurozone's final HICP inflation reading for September came in at 3.8% year-on-year, in line with economists' expectations but well above the European Central Bank's 2% target, showing that price pressures still need to be tamed.

The ECB has raised borrowing rates by 50 basis points in 2026 to 2.50%, to curb price pressures stemming from higher oil prices.

Investors are already pricing in another quarter-point rate hike at its December meeting, according to data compiled by LSEG.