European Equities Rally On Tech Strength Amid Policy Watch

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly higher on Tuesday as investors reacted to earnings updates and looked ahead to the monetary policy announcements from major central banks, including the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.

Oil prices fell, easing concerns about inflation. A rally in technology stocks amid renewed optimism about the artificial intelligence trade supported the market.

Announcements from Nvidia and Metal that they will partner to expand their work on Muse and the Muse family of models lifted sentiment with regard to the tech sector. Nvidia said it would invest $3 billion in Meta as part of the Facebook parent's plans to raise upto $95 billion through equity financing.

Oil prices edged higher after a weak start. Brent crude front-month futures rose to $111.91 from a low of $109.53, before dropping to $111.16, up nearly 0.4% from previous close.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.5%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 0.78% and 0.66%, respectively. The UK's benchmark FTSE 100 ended down 0.75%, weighed down by some disappointing earnings updates. Switzerland's SMI gained 0.4%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed higher.

Finland ended weak, while Norway and Türkiye closed flat.

In the UK market, HSBC Holdings ended lower by nearly 6% after pre-tax profit for the third-quarter came in at $9.63 million, less than analysts' expectations of $9.7 billion. The lender had posted a pre-tax profit of $7.30 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Profit after tax increased 38 percent to $7.57 billion from $5.50 billion a year ago. Earnings per share were $0.41, up from $0.28 last year.

The lender also said it intends to initiate a share buy-back of up to $1 billion, which is expected to be completed by 2026 full-year results announcement.

Reckitt Benckiser dropped by almost 5%. The consumer goods group cut its sales guidance for the year after third-quarter sales missed expectations due to an unexpected slowdown in the United States.

Pearson ended 3.2% down. BP drifted lower by 2.9%, while Intercontinental Hotels Group, Sainsbury (J), Relx, Admiral Group, Associated British Foods, Shell, Burberry Group, Convatec Group, Ithaca Energy, Natwest Group, Marks & Spencer and Melrose Industries shed 1%-2.2%.

Antofagasta moved up 4.5%. Endeavour Mining, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo and Anglo American Plc gained 2.2%-2.6%.

Barratt Redrow climbed 3.3%. Polar Capital Technology Trust, Coca-Cola HBC, Informa, Halma, Scottish Mortgage, Diploma, Lion Finance, IG Group Holdings, St. James's Place, Games Workshop, Bae Systems, Pershing Square Holdings, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Rentokil Initial gained 1%-2.7%.

In the German market, Infineon rallied 5.3%. Siemens Energy climbed 4.3% and Hochtief moved up nearly 3%. Siemens gained 2%, while RWE, Commerzbank, Heidelberg Materials and Porsche Automobil Holding ended up by 1%-1.5%.

Porsche moved notably higher after confirming its 2026 outlook following a sharp rebound in nine-month operating profit. The company reported net profit of €1.815 billion or €2.06 per share for the first nine months of 2026, up sharply from €114 million or €0.13 per share a year ago, primarily helped by lower cost of sales.

Mercedes-Benz closed down by about 3.7%. BMW, Rheinmetall, Daimler Truck Holding and Adidas ended lower by 1%-1.5%.

Shares of consumer goods maker Beiersdorf dropped 2.6% after third-quarter sales fell short of expectations. The company said organic ?sales fell 1.3% in the July-September period, compared with ?an expected decline of 1.2%.

In the French market, STMicroelectronics soared 7%. EssilorLuxottica, ArcelorMittal, Schneider Electric and Legrand gained 2.7%-4%.

BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Credit AgLVMH, Vinci, Unibail Rodamco, Veolia Environment and Stellantis also closed with impressive gains.

Orange dropped more than 1% despite reporting higher third-quarter revenue and raising its 2026 core earnings growth target.

Carrefour ended down 3.1%. Edenred drifted lower by 2.7%. Pernod Ricard eased by 1.8%, while Renault, L'Oreal and Capgemini lost 1%-1.2%.

Survey results published by the statistical office INSEE showed French consumer confidence declined to its lowest level in more than 13 years in October amid bond selloffs and expanding protests.

The consumer confidence index fell to 80 in October from 85 in September. A similar lower score was last reported in June 2013. The reading was seen at 85.

Further, the survey showed fears about unemployment increased among households. Also, price concerns intensified among consumers. The proportion of households who consider that prices climbed over the past twelve months increased sharply with the index climbing eight points to 42. Meanwhile, the indicator for future inflation dropped to -7 from -9.

Data from the British Retail Consortium showed UK shop price inflation accelerated to its highest level in two and a half years in October, climbing 2.1% year-on-year, faster than the 1.4% increase seen in September.

Non-food inflation advanced to 1.7% from 0.8%, while food inflation increased to 2.9% from 2.5% last month.