European Stocks Close Notably Lower On Weak Earnings, Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed notably lower on Thursday as disappointing earnings updates from U.S. tech majors Microsoft Inc., and Metal Platforms, and data showing a bigger than expected increase in euro zone inflation weighed on sentiment.

Microsoft warned of slower growth for the year, while Meta Platforms reported a significant acceleration in artificial intelligence-related infrastructure expenses. Both the companies reported disappointing quarterly numbers.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 1.2%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down 0.61%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.93% and 1.05%, respectively, while Switzerland's SMI settled lower by 1.46%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye ended weak.

Iceland and Portugal closed higher, while Greece ended weak.

In the UK market, Smith & Nephew tumbled 12.5% as the company lowered its full-year sales forecast due to softer trading in China.

Persimmon dropped 7.5% and Taylor Wimpey closed down 6.7%.

Howden Joinery Group, Whitbread, Barratt Redrow, Kingfisher, Vistry Group, Schrodders, Berkeley Group Holdings, Next, Entain, IMI, British Land, B&M European Value Retail, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Endeavour Mining, Segro, Associated British Foods and Frasers Group lost 3 to 5.2%.

Smith (DS) Plc shares zoomed 14.3%

Coca-Cola HBC rose sharply after raising its full-year outlook. Shell gained 3.5% after reporting a smaller than expected drop in third-quarter profit. British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands and Rentokil Initial advanced 1 to 1.8%.

In the German market, Zalando closed down 4.1%. SAP, Rheinmetall, Infineon, Volkswagen, MTU Aero Engines, Beiersdorf, BMW, Vonovia, Porsche, RWE, Adidas, Henkel and Mercedes-Benz lost 1 to 2.5%.

Fresenius Medical Care climbed about 1.4%. Sartorius, Merck, Deutsche Bank and Fresenius closed with moderate gains.

In the French market, BNP Paribas ended 4.8% down. Capgemini, STMicroElectronics, Pernod Ricard, Thales, Sanofi, Hermes International, Vivendi, LVMH and Publicis Groupe closed down 1 to 4%.

TotalEnergies declined sharply after reporting lower net income and sales in the third-quarter.

Societe Generale soared nearly 12% on stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings. The lender reported a 10.5% year-on-year revenue jump in the third quarter.

Edenred and Stellantis gained about 3.3% and 3%, respectively. Bouygues, Orange, Carrefour and Airbus closed moderately higher.

In economic news, eurozone inflation accelerated more than expected in October on food and energy prices but it remained within the target of the European Central Bank, bolstering the case for a gradual monetary policy easing.

The harmonized index of consumer prices posted an annual growth of 2%, the flash estimate from Eurostat showed. Inflation was forecast to rise to 1.9% from 1.7% in September.

Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, remained unchanged at 2.7% in October. The rate was seen at 2.6%.

Eurozone unemployment rate remained unchanged in September, data from Eurostat showed on Thursday. The jobless rate came in at 6.3%, unchanged from August. This was expected to rise slightly to 6.4%.

France's consumer price inflation rose at a slower-than-expected pace in October, provisional estimate from the statistical office INSEE showed. Consumer price inflation rose slightly to 1.2% in October from 1.1% in September. The rate was forecast to climb to 1.9%.

Germany's import prices fell 1.3% on a yearly basis in September, reversing a 0.2% rise in August. Further, this was the steepest fall since April. Month-on-month, import prices decreased at a stable rate of 0.4% in September.

Germany's retail sales grew unexpectedly in September on non-food turnover, data released by Destatis showed. Retail turnover increased 1.2% on a monthly basis in September, confounding expectations for a decline of 0.7%.