Stoxx 600, FTSE, DAX, earnings

First-half profit at Glencore fell 14% amid headwinds from lower coal prices, along with “temporary, but largely expected” operational factors at its copper business.

The mining giant said its shares will stay listed in London, and that is does not believe becoming a U.S. domestic issuer would currently be “value accretive” for its shareholders.

— Emilia Hardie

Siemens Energy posted a record quarterly order intake on Wednesday, as orders for its fiscal third quarter jumped 64.6% to 16.6 billion euros ($19.2 billion).

On a comparable basis, revenue jumped 13.5% to 9.7 billion euros, while net income reached 697 million euros — up from a net loss of 102 million euros in the same quarter last year.

“Siemens Energy reaffirms the raised outlook issued in the second quarter with a tendency towards the upper end of the guided ranges,” the company said.

— Chloe Taylor

In a note to clients on Wednesday morning, strategists and analysts at Deutsche Bank said European corporate earnings were coming in above their expectations.

“We expected earnings to beat consensus … but earnings came in even better than we expected,” they said. “So far 74% of companies in the STOXX 600 reported earnings. Aggregate earnings came in 8% higher than expected and grew by 7% yoy ex-Energy.”

They also noted that more European firms had raised their guidance this quarter than downgraded, adding that the recently announced EU-U.S. trade deal “should support that trend as reduced uncertainty allows for more upward revisions.”

“However, earnings did weaken sequentially, as the first tariff impacts were felt,” they conceded. “We expect tariffs to cost European equities around 4% earnings growth this year, which leaves us with a full-year earnings forecast for 2025 at 3%.”

— Chloe Taylor

Zalando has raised its full year guidance after the online fashion marketplace completed its acquisition of rival About You. 

The German firm now expects gross merchandise volumes to grow up to 15% in 2025, from an original forecast of up to 9%. 

— Michael Considine

Ahold Delhaize reiterated its 2025 outlook after posting 23.1 billion euros ($26.8 billion) in net sales for the second quarter, with adjusted earnings per share coming in slightly above expectations at 65 cents.

— Jordan Butt

Banco BPM topped net profit forecasts for the second quarter, with the Italian lender boosted by fees from the recently acquired fund manager Anima Holding.

The bank posted a record net profit of 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in the first half of the year.

It also confirmed its full-year outlook, just weeks after a takeover bid from UniCredit failed amid government opposition.

CEO Giuseppe Castagna hinted at further M&A activity for his bank in the earnings call, after confirming Banco BPM holds a 9% stake in domestic peer Monte dei Paschi. 

— Michael Considine, Chloe Taylor

Sales of Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster Wegovy weight loss drug surged in the second quarter, the company said in its latest report, days after cutting its full-year guidance and announcing a new CEO.

Overall revenues rose 13% year-on-year at constant exchange rates to 76.86 billion Danish kroner ($11.92 billion) in the three months to the end of June, just ahead of the 76.6 billion Danish kroner forecast.

Sales of its blockbuster Wegovy obesity drug rose 67% over the period to 19.53 billion Danish kroner, slightly below the 20 billion Danish kroner analysts had forecast.

Read more here.

— Karen Gilchrist

Fresenius has raised its revenue outlook for the full year, with the German healthcare group now expecting up to 7% organic growth.

CEO Michael Sen hailed a “resilient and consistent performance” in the first half, adding that the group will “focus on organic growth through disciplined capital allocation.”

— Michael Considine

Commerzbank‘s second-quarter net profit fell 14% year on year, the German lender said on Wednesday morning, citing restructuring costs.

Net profit for the quarter came in at 462 million euros ($535 million).

Meanwhile, the bank’s quarterly operating result jumped 34% from the previous year to 1.17 billion euros, helping it notch a record 2.4 billion operating result for the first half of the year.

Commerzbank raised its full-year outlook, saying it now expects a net result of around 2.5 billion euros, up from an earlier forecast of 2.4 billion euros.

— Chloe Taylor

U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves could be facing a £51 billion ($67.9 billion) hole in the autumn budget.

That’s according to Britain’s National Institute of Economic and Social Research, which warns she faces an “impossible trilemma.”

The thinktank argues that the U.K. chancellor cannot comply with her fiscal rules, honour spending pledges and avoid tax increases for working people, arguing she needs to find an additional £41 billion for the government to meet its fiscal targets by 2029-30.

— Andreea Gheorghe

Good morning from London, and welcome to CNBC’s live blog covering all the action and business news in European financial markets on Wednesday.

Futures data from IG suggests a broadly positive open for European indexes, with London’s FTSE 100 seen opening 0.35% higher, France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX up 0.25%, and Italy’s FTSE MIB 0.34% higher.

Global markets will be keeping an eye on the tariff landscape the rest of this week after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled he will announce new tariffs on semiconductors and chips as soon as next week.

“We’re going to be announcing [tariffs] on semiconductors and chips, which is a separate category, because we want them made in the United States,” Trump told CNBC on Tuesday, adding that he’ll announce the new plan “within the next week or so.”

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed overnight on the comments, while S&P 500 futures were near flat Tuesday night as investors analyzed the latest batch of corporate earnings.

— Holly Ellyatt