Europe midday: Shares down as Houthi attacks on Saudi facilities hit sentiment

(Sharecast News) - European shares opened lower and oil prices headed towards $100 a barrel after attacks on Saudi oil facilities and towns raising fears of a supply crisis.

The benchmark Stoxx 600 index was down 0.13% to 649 at 1058 GMT with most major bourses in the red. Brent crude rose 1.66% to $98.61 a barrel having touched $99 in the session.

Saudi authorities said operations at several energy facilities were halted after attacks by Yemen's Iranaligned Houthis, which left more than 70 people wounded.

The strikes hit sites around Jizan, home to one of Saudi Arabia's largest refineries, adding fresh disruption to regional oil and gas output.

Brent crude pushed back towards $100 a barrel as the wider Iran conflict continues to destabilise key infrastructure. The attacks also deepened concerns over shipping security in the Gulf, where traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has already slowed sharply despite US President Donald Trump's boast that the waterway would be fully open this week.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran had "fundamentally recalibrated" its military posture towards US forces.

"In recent days, Washington has received a clear warning from Iran's new missiles. Economic warfare will be met by a maritime exclusion zone across the Persian Gulf to the blockade perimeter. The operational posture toward U.S. warships and bases has been fundamentally recalibrated."

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed sharply this week, with only seven commodity vessels passing on Monday after eight on Sunday, highlighting mounting disruption in a key global energy chokepoint.

Before the conflict, around 130 ships a day typically crossed the strait, underscoring the scale of the downturn and the growing strain on supply routes as security risks escalate across the Gulf.

Germany's DAX fell 0.05% after official data showed the country's trade surplus widened in July to �21.3bn from a revised �15.4bn in June.

However, the surplus also came in ahead of the �16.8bn recorded a year earlier, helped by a sharper fall in imports than exports.

Seasonally adjusted exports slipped 0.8% on the month to �138.2bn, though they were still 6.1% higher yearonyear, while imports dropped 5.7% to �116.9bn, but remained 3% above July 2025 levels.

In equity news, tech services provider Computacenter fell despite the firm lifting full year guidance on the back of a surge in first half profits driven by a booming North American order book.

Novartis shares slumped after the pharmaceutical giant said its del-desiran drug for muscle-wasting disorder failed in a late-stage trial.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com