European Stocks Close Mixed As Investors React To Earnings, Await Fed Minutes

(RTTNews) - European stocks ended on a mixed note on Wednesday with investors reacting to some disappointing quarterly earnings updates, and looking ahead to the release of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting for clues about the outlook for interest rates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.17%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.73%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 climbed o.29% and 0.22%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.25%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Portugal and Spain closed higher.

Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia and Turkiye ended weak, while Sweden settled flat.

In the UK market, HSBC Holdings tumbled more than 8% after the lender reported a plunge in fourth-quarter profit after a charge on Chinese bank stake.

Entain ended down 3.2%. Centrica, Ocado Group and Flutter Entertainment lost 2 to 2.5%. Croda International, Vodafone, BAE Systems, RightMove, WPP, Rio Tinto, Ds Smith, DCC, GlaxoSmithKline, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Fresnillo lost 1 to 1.6%.

Intercontinental Hotels climbed more than 2%. BT, Beazley, B&M European Value Retail, St. James's Place, Frasers Group, Convatec Group, Halma and Prudential gained 1 to 1.6%.

In the German market, Siemens Energy surged 3.2%. BMW gained nearly 2.5%. Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Daimler Truck Holding, Infineon and Volkswagen ended higher by 1.3 to 2.1%.

Fresenius Medical Care ended more than 5.5% down, after the health care company posted a net loss of 614 million euros in the fourth quarter, compared with a net profit of 255 million euros in the year-ago quarter.

Symrise, Deutsche Boerse and Sartorius lost 1 to 1.6%.

In Paris, EdenRed plunged nearly 12% after the company said its Italian unit Edenred Italia was being investigated by the public prosecutor's office in Rome over an allegedly fradulent public tender launched in 2019.

Alstom gained about 4%. Renault and Pernod Ricard gained 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively.

In economic news, Britain registered budget surplus in January, which was the largest since records began in 1993, the Office for National Statistics reported Wednesday.

Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks was in surplus by GBP 16.7 billion in January. This was a GBP 9.2 billion larger surplus than in the same period last year and the biggest on record.

Data from the Confederation of British Industry showed UK manufacturers forecast production to rise in the three months to May and their selling price expectations hit the strongest since mid 2023.

The net balance of respondents reporting a fall in output declined to -19% in three months to February from -10% in the preceding period, the Industrial Trends Survey data revealed. However, a net 4% expects output to rise slightly in the three months to May.

Euro area consumer confidence improved more than expected in February after deteriorating in the previous month, but the reading remained negative, suggesting lessening pessimism, preliminary data from the European Commission showed.

The flash consumer confidence index climbed to 15.5 from -16.1 in January. Economists had forecast a score of -16. In December, the reading was -15.1.