March 5 (Reuters) – European shares edged lower on Thursday as an expanding Middle East conflict weighed on market sentiment, while a string of patchy corporate earnings added to the gloom.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.3% at 610.72 points, as of 0810 GMT. The benchmark index on Wednesday had its best day in more than three months, recovering some of the losses accumulated earlier in the week.
Miners led sector losses with a 1.5% decline.
The U.S.-Israel war with Iran entered its sixth day with no quick resolve in sight, as Tehran launched a fresh barrage of missile strikes at Israel earlier in the day and the U.S. Senate blocked a motion aimed at halting the U.S air campaign.
Investors will also be watching for a speech by European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, due later in the day, for clues on the monetary policy outlook.
Markets are also awaiting the euro zone’s January retail sales data and last month’s construction PMI.
Among individual moves, shares of Nexi were halted after an 11.3% slump, hitting a record low following the payments firm’s full-year results.
DHL dropped 5.4% after the German logistics group reported a 1.3% decline in fourth-quarter operating profit, weighed down by its freight forwarding business.
(Reporting by Avinash P in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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