European Stocks Close Lower As Investors Digest Results, Eye Fresh Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed lower on Tuesday with investors digesting a slew of earnings reports from European and U.S. companies, and looking ahead to some crucial economic data due later in the week.

Google parent Alphabet is due to unveil its earnings later in the day, with investors keen to see how growth at its key search business is progressing during a time of rising competition.

Markets also keep a close eye on Wednesday's U.K. budget announcement and the upcoming Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election. Analysts expect the Autumn Budget to introduce key fiscal reforms, including tax changes and wage adjustments that could significantly impact the industry landscape.

A Trump victory may be on the horizon, but most major polls currently show him locked in a tight race with Vice President Kamala Harris.

In European economic news, a survey showed earlier today that Germany's consumer confidence is set to recover more strongly in November to hit a more than two-and-a-half-year high.

The forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose to -18.3 in November from a revised value of -21.0 in October as both income expectations and the willingness to buy showed a back-to-back improvement, according to a survey conducted by the market research group GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).

Elsewhere, U.K. shop prices declined the most in more than three years in October amid falling non-food prices and easing food inflation, the British Retail Consortium, or BRC, said.

The shop price index declined 0.8% on a yearly basis in October, larger than the 0.6% decrease in the previous month. This was the weakest deflation since August 2021.

The pan European Stoxx 600 closed down 0.57%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.8%, Germany's DAX ended lower by 0.27% and France's CAC 40 fell 0.61%, while Switzerland's SMI ended down 1.12%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended weak. Norway edged down marginally.

Greece, Iceland, Poland, Russia and Turkiye closed higher.

In the UK market, Airtel Africa tumbled more than 7%. BP closed nearly 5% down, as it reported lower profit and cash flow from a year ago, weighed down by a drop in refining profits and weaker oil trading.

JD Sports Fashion, Imperial Brands, Melrose Industries, Pershing Square Holdings, Vodafone Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Howden Joinery, IAG, BT Group, Coca-Cola HBC, 3i Group, Croda International, Fraser Group, Entain and Barratt Developments lost 2 to 4%.

HSBC Holdings gained 3.1% after the Asia-focused bank reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings and announced a hefty $3 billion buyback.

Pearson climbed 4.3% after reporting stronger sales. Fresnillo closed up 3.4%. Rentokil Initial, Standard Chartered, Rio Tinto, WPP and Anglo American Plc also closed notably higher.

In the German market, Volkswagen ended down 3.4%. Fresenius Medical Care, Bayer, Merck, Brenntag, BMW, Continental, Fresenius, BASF, Symrise, RWE, Mercedes-Benz, Vonovia, E.ON and Henkel lost 1 to 2.5%.

Adidas climbed about 3.25% after posting solid third-quarter results and raising its annual profit target for the third quarter in a row.

Daimler Truck Holding gained about 1.25%, while Siemens Energy and SAP posted moderate gains.

In the French market, Stellantis lost nearly 2.5%. Kering, Schneider Electric, Unibail Rodamco, Legrand, L'Oreal, Renault, Carrefour, Eurofins Scientific, Pernod Ricard, Air Liquide and Engie ended lower by 1 to 1.7%.

Teleperformance, STMicroElectronics and Dassault Systemes gained 1.5 to 1.8%. Orange gained about 0.75%.