European shares have halted their ascent after an attack on Iran’s Pars gas field pushed oil prices higher and renewed fears of escalation in the Middle East, shattering the calm since the beginning of the week, according to Reuters.

The pan-European STOXX 600 declined 0.70 per cent to 598.25 after gaining as much as 0.67pc earlier in the session, ending a two-day winning streak.

“Up to now, energy infrastructure had been sort of off-limits. But this escalation brings back the risk that markets have been trying to forget,” said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone.