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BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPEAN FUTURES STEADY, LOTS OF EARNINGS

European shares were set for a broadly unchanged start near record highs on Thursday on a heavy day for earnings in the region, and after yet another set of solid numbers from Nvidia NVDA.O offered some relief amid lingering worries about stretched tech valuations.

EuroSTOXX 50, DAX and FTSE futures were all broadly steady, trading within a range of down 0.1% to up 0.1%. U.S. futures were a touch softer.

Among the early highlights in Europe, industrial group Schneider Electric SCHN.PA reported stronger‑than‑expected core earnings, driven by robust data‑centre demand. London Stock Exchange Group LSEG.L, under pressure from activist investor Elliott, announced a further 3-billion pound share buyback, while Deutsche Telekom DTEGn.DE posted core profit slightly above expectations.

Results also came from Italian oil major Eni ENI.MI, German insurer Allianz ALVG.DE, French utility Engie ENGIE.PA and Swiss chemicals maker Clariant CLN.S among others.

So far this earnings season, 163 companies in the STOXX 600 .STOXX have reported. Of these, around 57% have topped analyst estimates, above the typical quarterly beat rate of 54%, according to LSEG I/B/E/S estimates.

(Danilo Masoni)

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EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

NVIDIA DELIVERS, BUT GOOD NO LONGER CUTS IT CLICK HERE