European shares edge higher Tuesday as easing oil and earnings lift sentiment

European stock indexes edged higher in Tuesday trading, 21 July 2026, after a weak start to the week. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose about 0.1 percent to around 640 points. A pullback in oil prices from one-month highs, following reports of mediation efforts between the United States and Iran, helped lift sentiment, even as concern over energy-supply disruption persisted after Yemen's Houthis announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia.

Technology was the best-performing sector, up about 0.9 percent, with semiconductor-equipment makers ASML and ASMI gaining around 2.8 and 2.1 percent respectively. On the earnings front, drugmaker Novartis rose about 2.2 percent after its operating profit beat estimates.