European shares rise after four-day drop as ABB shines

European shares rose on Wednesday after four consecutive sessions of losses, supported by strong quarterly results from Switzerland's ABB and optimism over a potential trade deal between the United States and the European Union.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index up 0.8% as of 0718 GMT.

ABB jumped 8.2% after the engineering firm posted record quarterly order intake, driven by strong U.S. demand and for products used in data centres to support artificial intelligence.


Shares of rivals Siemens and Schneider Electric added 3.6% and 5.8% respectively. The three firms were among the top boosts to the European benchmark index.

European chipmakers also recouped some losses from the previous session as TSMC, the world's main producer of advanced AI chips, posted record profit in the second quarter. ASML rose 1.7% following 11% drop on Wednesday.

In trade, EU's trade chief Maros Sefcovic headed to Washington on Wednesday for tariff talks, and is expected to meet U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, an EU spokesperson told Reuters.

Meanwhile, investors awaited for clarity on U.S.-EU trade talks as the bloc readied retaliatory measures if negotiations with Washington failed.

On Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump eased market anxiety after denying reports that said was planning to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell soon.

He confirmed he floated the idea with Republican lawmakers and renewed his criticism of the Fed chief for not cutting interest rates.

Among other stocks, Evolution gained 6.5% after the Swedish gaming technology company reported its second-quarter results.