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LONDON – European stock markets edged lower on Thursday as investors reacted to another flurry of corporate earnings.

pan-european Stocks 600 The stock was down 0.07% as of 11:26 a.m. ET in London, with most sectors and major exchanges in negative territory.

This day is a busy day as many local companies receive their quarterly reports and prepare for the closing of their accounts.

AstraZeneca on Thursday morning kept its earnings forecast unchanged after third-quarter sales and profits beat expectations. Total revenue for the third quarter increased 10% year over year, excluding currency effects, and is expected to grow at a high-single-digit rate this year, with core earnings per share expected to increase at a low-double-digit rate.

The stock price has fluctuated up and down flat since the opening bell, and was most recently trading up about 0.3%.

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” Thursday morning and said the company decided not to change its guidance as it continues to face headwinds in China and Latin America.

“There is a range in our guidance and we could end up at the high end of the range. We have decided to be cautious and if all goes well there is a possibility of overdelivery,” he said.

Soriot also touched on his relationship with President Trump in an interview with CNBC on Thursday.

“President Trump wants to rebalance the costs and risks of innovation in our industry… He wants to ensure that countries pay their fair share in developing lifesaving medicines,” he said. “We understand this and we agree with this. That’s why we’re pursuing a U.S. investment strategy so that all our products can be made in the U.S., and we’re investing in research and development in the U.S.. We also agree that the costs of innovation and the associated risks should be rebalanced across rich countries.”

german defense minister line metalhas been one of the main beneficiaries of this year’s bull market in defense stocks, and was among the companies reporting quarterly results on Thursday.

The company maintained its outlook after reporting third-quarter sales of 2.78 billion euros, slightly less than expected. Operating profit for the quarter amounted to 360 million euros, an increase of almost 20% compared to the same period last year.

In the arms and ammunition business, third-quarter sales increased by 190 million euros year-on-year to 691 million euros. Rheinmetall said the arms division achieved record sales of 2 billion euros in the first nine months of this year, driven by orders from NATO member states and Ukraine.

Rheinmetall shares were most recently trading up 2.2%.

Other German logistics companies DHL The third quarter also exceeded expectations, but CEO Tobias Meyer told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” that the company’s U.S. volumes were down significantly.

DHL stock rose 5.6% in early trading.

Meanwhile, shares in German lender Commerzbank fell 2.9% after the company reported disappointing third-quarter net profit of 591 million euros ($680 million), down 7.9% from a year earlier.

CEO Bettina Orop told CNBC’s Annette Weisbach that the loss in earnings was due to recorded tax effects. “Our expense income ratio is 56%, which is three points lower than last year’s number,” she said. The bank also incurred restructuring costs of 553 million euros earlier this year.

Nevertheless, the bank said it now expects net interest income to increase. The company raised its full-year forecast to 8.2 billion euros from 8 billion euros.

Stock prices of major beverage companies diageo Stocks fell 6% in morning trading after the London-listed company lowered its full-year outlook, citing weakness in China and the U.S. markets. The company said it still expected to take a $200 million hit from the U.S. tariffs, as previously expected.

Central banks’ decisions will also be closely watched in Europe on Thursday. Norway’s central bank left its key policy rate unchanged at 4% in a decision earlier in the day, with an announcement from the Bank of England expected later.

The Bank of England also left interest rates unchanged on Thursday, which had been widely expected ahead of Britain’s crucial autumn budget. Yields on British government bonds, known as gilts, fell across the curve with benchmark yields. 10 pension Immediately after the central bank’s decision was announced, the index fell by almost 3 basis points to trade at around 4.438%.

of british poundOn the other hand, the stock pared back its early gains and ended trading 0.18% higher against the US dollar at $1.3073.

Turning to global markets overnight, Asia-Pacific markets rose, tracking Wall Street’s gains after AMD’s third-quarter profit outpaced rising artificial intelligence stocks.

Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures fell slightly overnight as investors grew less wary of eye-popping AI valuations and were encouraged by the tone of the Supreme Court hearing on President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

Investors are raising hopes that the Supreme Court will rule against the Trump administration’s aggressive trade policies after high court justices expressed some skepticism about the legality of the trade tax during a hearing in Washington on Wednesday. The ruling could trigger the president to roll back tariffs, likely sending stock prices higher.

— CNBC’s Liz Napolitano contributed reporting to this story.