European shares flat after mixed corporate results

European shares were flat in early trading on Wednesday as investors parsed through a mixed bag of corporate results, with rising Brexit uncertainty and trade tensions limiting the gains.

The banking sector fell 0.8 per cent, led by Swedish banks, as Handelsbanken fell on poor results, while Swedbank slipped after cutting its shareholder pay-out policy.

The tech sector outperformed the broader market after ASML reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

The sector rose was up 0.6 per cent, also helped by gains in mobile network gear maker Ericsson, which said it was on-track for 2020 targets as second-quarter profit matched.

The pan-European stocks benchmark slipped 0.07 per cent at 0711 GMT, in what could be its first day of decline in four days.