European Shares Seen Lower With Focus On Earnings And US Election

(RTTNews) - European stocks may drift lower at open on Thursday as investors absorb another batch of mixed earnings results from megacap technology companies and await key U.S. inflation data for directional cues.

Microsoft delivered solid quarterly results but forecast slower quarterly cloud revenue growth. Facebook owner Meta saw net income and revenues top expectations.

Apple, Amazon, MasterCard, Uber, Merck and Intel are slated to report later in the day.

U.S. reports on weekly jobless claims and personal income and spending, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation readings, due out later in the day along with Friday's October payrolls report, may offer further clues on what to expect from the Federal Reserve meeting on Nov. 7.

Meanwhile, with election day in the United States less than a week away, polls predict a narrow contest between Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican rival former President Donald Trump.

Closer home, Eurozone flash inflation and unemployment figures as well as German retail sales data may garner investor attention later in the day.

Asian markets fell broadly as signs of a resilient U.S. economy prompted traders to trim bets on policy easing.

Chinese and Hong Kong markets clung to modest gains after official manufacturing PMI beat forecasts to hit a six-month high in October.

The yen strengthened as the Bank of Japan maintained ultra-low interest rates in the wake of a fragile domestic recovery and rising global uncertainties.

Gold prices dipped from record highs reached the precious day but were on track for their best month in seven on safe-haven demand.

Oil prices rose, extending the previous day's rally driven by optimism over U.S. fuel demand following an unexpected drop in crude and gasoline inventories.

U.S. stocks ended firmly in the red overnight as investors reacted to mixed earnings results and economic reports.

Private-job creation jumped to its highest level in more than a year in October, while the U.S. economy grew at a slightly slower annualized rate of 2.8 percent in the third quarter ahead of elections, separate set of data showed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 dipped 0.3 percent and the Dow eased 0.2 percent.

European stocks closed lower on Wednesday as investors reacted to a fresh batch of corporate earnings, regional growth data and the U.K. Labour Party's first budget in nearly 15 years.

The pan European STOXX 600 declined 1.3 percent. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both fell by 1.1 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.7 percent.