[MARKET ANALYSIS] European bourses weighed by higher energy prices as reports point to further strikes by the US

European bourses are lower across the board, further weighed by the upside across the energy complex. The catalyst for crude benchmarks came amid multiple reports that US President Trump is considering another attack on Iran, possibly before the midterms, with the US military being ordered to be ready for possible strikes. Adding to the energy upside are reports of explosions in Riyadh, while tankers have been reportedly struck in the Gulf region. Outside of the aforementioned geopolitics, Samsung Electronics and TSMC reported Q3 metrics. For the former, its revenue and operating profit missed estimates; on the other hand, the latter beat forecasts. Samsung shares fell 2.4% in Asia trade following its metrics, despite reporting a near nine-fold rise in quarterly operating profit, while TSMC (-1.4%) also slipped, although to a lesser degree. Sectors point to the negative bias. Media tops the sector pile, closely followed by Energy and Utilities. Underperformance comes from Banks, Health Care and Construction. Top stories include: BMPS -2.5%, shareholder Caltagirone rejects the Co.'s bid for Banco BPM and Banca Generali; Tesco +3.5%, lifts the lower end of its FY26/27 adj. operating profit guidance range; Argenx -18.1%, discontinues its Phase 3 UNITY study; ALK-Abello +6.6%, raises its FY26 revenue growth and EBIT margin guidance; Bavarian Nordic +4.1%, raises its FY26 guidance to reflect stronger-than-expected performance in its Travel Health business. US equity futures follow their European peers amid the rise in energy prices. Well-known investor Paulson has recently highlighted that the last time oil was above USD 100/bbl, US yields were above 5% and the USD was elevated, the S&P 500 dropped as much as 15% in the following three to five months.