European stocks closed mostly higher Wednesday, with Germany’s DAX 40 up 0.19% to 26,315.91, France’s CAC 40 rising 0.27% to 8,462.39, Italy’s FTSE MIB gaining 0.31% to 52,882.99 and Spain’s IBEX 35 adding 0.05% to 20,067.3. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 edged up 0.02% to 656.64, while Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.07% to 10,878.12. Investors remained cautious before Nvidia’s quarterly results, which are being watched for signs of the strength and durability of global spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure. Tech stocks weakened ahead of the announcement, while Brent crude fell more than 2% to about $86 a barrel amid diplomatic efforts involving Iran and the US to ease tensions and restore normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, weighing on European energy companies. German export expectations from the Ifo Institute rose to 9.6 points in August from minus 2.8 in July, their highest level since February 2022 and the sharpest monthly increase since June 2020. Exports to other EU countries were growing strongly, although demand from China remained weak. Eurostat said the EU imported €701.8 billion ($817.6 billion) of goods from non-EU countries in the second quarter and exported €680 billion, with imports up 9.9% and exports 5.4% from the previous quarter. Britain’s Ofgem said the household energy price cap would increase 4% to £1,723 ($2,340) a year from October because of higher wholesale energy costs.