Muscat: European stocks recorded a largely stable performance today, as investors weighed the potential impact of escalating tensions in the Middle East on recent gains in technology shares, which had been buoyed by strong forecasts from ASML, the semiconductor equipment manufacturer. Technology stocks advanced 1.4 percent, driven by gains in ASML, whose shares jumped six percent after the company raised its financial outlook for 2026-reinforcing investor confidence in the robustness of demand linked to artificial intelligence technologies. Shares of other chip-related companies, including ASM and Soitec, also rose by more than two percent each.

According to Oman News Agency, Germany's benchmark index underperformed the rest of the region, declining approximately one percent under pressure from a two percent drop in software firm SAP's shares. Other software stocks, including Dassault Syst¨mes and Capgemini, each fell by more than one percent.