April 18 (Reuters) - European shares edged higher on Thursday, with the industrials lifting the benchmark index following ABB's upbeat results, while Germany-listed Sartorius was on track for its biggest drop in six months after bleak quarterly orders.
The continent-wide STOXX 600 was up 0.2%, as of 0717 GMT, as the earnings season picks up steam.
The industrials sector was the biggest boost with a 0.7% jump, driven by a nearly 6% rise in ABB as the Swiss engineering company's profit trounced market expectations in the first quarter.
Shares of Sartorius slid 7.4% to the bottom of the benchmark index after the Franco-German lab supplies maker's first-quarter figures missed analysts' expectations for order intake and revenue.
The broader healthcare sector was the biggest drag on the STOXX with a 0.3% drop.
Among others, Nokia slipped 2.2% after the Finnish telecom gear maker's quarterly profit figures missed estimates.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru and Ozan Ergenay in Gdansk; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
