European shares hit a record high on Wednesday, recovering after a modest dip a day earlier, as gains in utility and healthcare indexes helped push aside weakness in media and defence stocks.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) rose 0.3% by 0926 GMT.
Investors took early cues from corporate updates, with attention expected to shift later to a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump's tariffs.
"If the Supreme Court smacks down these tariffs, the first response is going to be fairly positive. But it's very unlikely the U.S. administration is going to roll over," Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst of Capital.com told Reuters.
Back in Europe, utility shares (.SX6P) were the biggest winners, climbing 1.3%.
Energy firms RWE (RWEG.DE) and SSE (SSE.L) added 2.9% and 1.4%, respectively. The companies were among the project developers to win guaranteed electricity price contracts in Britain's latest offshore wind power auction, which secured a record capacity.
HEALTHCARE GAINS, DEFENCE RALLY PAUSES
Healthcare stocks (.SXDP) rose 1% after Finnish drugmaker Orion (ORNBV.HE) climbed 12.4% to its highest since October, following a better-than-expected revenue forecast for 2026.
AstraZeneca (AZN.L) added 2%, a day after it said it had agreed to buy Boston-based Modella AI.
Luxury stocks (.STXLUXP) climbed 1% early in the session. The index is expected to be in focus through the session after high-end department store conglomerate Saks Global filed for bankruptcy late on Tuesday.
Gucci-owner Kering (PRTP.PA) and the world's biggest luxury conglomerate LVMH (LVMH.PA) were listed as unsecured creditors to the company. Their shares were up 0.3% each.
"The situation raises concerns about consumer demand, especially at the higher end of the market, and about extreme competition in the space, including from e-commerce," Rodda said.
Media stocks (.SXMP) fell 1%. British education company Pearson (PSON.L) dropped 5% after its biggest division lost a contract with New Jersey.
Defence stocks (.SXPARO) also fell 0.5%, ending an eight-session run of gains.
Meanwhile, Germany's DAX index (.GDAXI) was marginally lower, set to snap its longest winning streak in more than a decade should current levels hold.
Investors will also parse earnings updates from U.S. lenders Bank of America (BAC.N) and Citigroup (C.N). Their executives are expected to weigh in on Trump's plan to cap credit card interest rates for a year.
On Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase's (JPM.N) top brass said such a move would hurt consumers.
