(Reuters) -European shares opened lower on Thursday as persistent Middle East tensions and fears of possible U.S. involvement kept investors on edge.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.6% at 537.23 points at 0707 GMT.
Israel and Iran’s aerial attacks continued as U.S. President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the U.S. would join Israel in air strikes on Tehran.
Trump also said that Iranian officials wanted to hold talks, while a Reuters report said that European Union ministers were set to hold nuclear talks with the country on Friday.
The week-old conflict has already impacted oil prices, higher on the day and boosting the energy sector, the only stocks trading higher, up 0.7%.
Meanwhile, The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held interest rates steady but Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he expects “meaningful” inflation ahead due to the Trump administration’s planned import tariffs.
On the day, interest rate decisions are expected out of Switzerland, Norway and the UK.
Among stocks, Stora Enso jumped about 15% to top the STOXX 600 after the Finnish forestry group said it was initiating a strategic review of its Swedish forest assets.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
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