11:46 AM EDT, 08/07/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed higher Friday as investors eye developments in the Middle East and weigh a generally positive earnings season.

The Stoxx Europe gained 0.4%, Germany's DAX rose 0.9%, the FTSE 100 increased 0.4%, France's CAC was up 0.3%, and the Swiss Market Index closed 0.3% higher.

In the UK, home prices edged slightly lower in July to 299,253 pounds ($402,284) from 299,396 pounds in June, and is up only 0.1% a year earlier, marking the smallest annual growth since November 2023, according to the Lloyds House Price Index.

"Average house prices have remained relatively stable for almost two years, moving within a narrow range over that period and sitting just +0.5% higher than they were in November 2024," Amanda Bryden, Lloyds' head of mortgages, said in a statement. "That trend has persisted even as buyers and sellers have faced a more uncertain economic backdrop this year."

In Germany, output in the manufacturing sector rose 0.2% in June from May 2026, after seasonal and calendar adjustments, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

Destatis attributed the growth in production primarily to growth in the automotive industry.

In corporate news, Novo Nordisk said Wednesday it won a preliminary injunction in the Netherlands against Ceban Ziekenhuisfarmacie B.V. in a patent-infringement case involving its compounded semaglutide nasal spray.

The District Court of The Hague ordered Ceban to stop selling the nasal spray immediately, noting that Ceban infringed Novo Nordisk's supplementary protection certificate covering semaglutide, Novo said.

Novo Nordisk said that under the ruling, Ceban has to remove references to the product from relevant listings and websites, provide information about its commercial supply chain, and reimburse its legal costs.

"We have studied the decision and accept the court's ruling. Since this medicinal product is an insignificant part of our business, the financial impact of this ruling is immaterial," a spokesperson for Ceban Pharmaceuticals, parent company of Ceban Ziekenhuisfarmacie, said Friday in an emailed statement.

Shares of the Danish pharmaceutical company rose 4% in Copenhagen.