European shares edge lower as banking jitters resurface

European shares edged lower on Thursday, despite a raft of positive corporate earnings, as troubles at U.S. lender First Republic Bank continued to rattle investors over the global banking sector.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1% by 0720 GMT. The index was dragged lower by media shares, which dropped 1.6%, while Universal Music Group (AS:UMG) fell 4% after it posted a slump in its first-quarter core profit.

Shares of healthcare companies were the top gainers in the index, rising 0.9%.

Worries over the banking sector unnerved investors as shares of First Republic Bank sank almost 30% on Wednesday, hitting a record low for the second consecutive day.

Still, banking shares rose 0.4%, led by Barclays (LON:BARC) Plc that climbed 2.4% on an estimate-beating quarterly profit, as a resilient performance from its consumer bank offset pressure on key other business lines.

Unilever (LON:ULVR) Plc climbed 1.5% on better-than-expected quarterly underlying sales, as the maker of Dove soap raised prices yet again to compensate for higher commodity and supply chain costs. AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) Plc added 1.7% on beating expectations for its first-quarter profit and revenue, helped by sales of some of its oncology as well as rare blood disorder drugs. Euro zone consumer confidence data for April, due at 0900 GMT, will be on investors’ radar.